Saiyan Saga: Of Blood and Fire
by Demonic Host
Summary: Sequel to Of Moons and Tails. With the Tuffles and their virus taken care of, the team had been issued the warning that the worse was yet to come. But can they deal with the future consequences and the reforming Saiyan nation at the same time? (No male pairings)
1. Chapter 1

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 1**_

The sound of the ship's alarms seemed to get louder and louder in their ears as the lights filled the corridor. The white tile bounced the light in surprising ways as though it had a prism quality to it. It also seemed to make the sound feel as though it were coming from everywhere all at once.

"They must have escape pods," Bardock said with a growl in his voice as he started running off in the other direction.

"Hey, wait!" Goku called out as the girls and rest of the boys took off after Bardock. "We can't leave Vegeta here!"

They didn't seem to hear him over the siren nor did any of them look back. With his brows drawn together, Goku reached down and picked up Vegeta. The saiyan prince's body lay limp in his arms as he hurried after the group. He tried calling out after them to try and get their attention but they didn't stop until they ran into a collapsed part of the ship.

Until they ran straight into a dead end.

"Now what?" Leta growled.

"Grab onto me," Goku interjected.

"I think he's talking to you." Leta looked to Annya.

"Right...that Teleportation skill you have," Annya replied in understanding over the siren before looking to Leta. "He's talking to us all."

Bardock snorted, "Teleportation huh?"

"That's right! Instant Transmission!" Gohan smiled, "You can carry all of us?"

Goku nodded with a serious face despite the comical image he made while carrying Vegeta in his arms. "Yes. You just have a grab a hold of me so we can go. Quick. We don't have much time."

Annya moved over to him and instead of grabbing onto him, she move Vegeta over his shoulder. Then she put her hand on his arm and looked out at the others as if it ask what they were waiting for.

Leta walked over and put her hands on Annya's shoulders. "This good enough? No offense but… I don't want to touch you."

"I'm not Fabio, I know," Goku said with a small smile as everyone else grabbed onto him.

Then without warning, as the ship started to collapse in on itself, Goku raised his hand up to his forehead and they zapped back to Earth. Once they appeared on Earth, in the front yard of Capsule Corp., they were surrounded by everyone.

"What happened to Vegeta?" Bulma asked with wide eyes as she saw him laying across Goku's shoulder.

"He got possessed." Trunks answered, walking over to his mother.

"What?"

"Yes, then Annya shoved her arm down his throat to kill it." Leta cringed.

Bulma and Krillen looked to Annya. One of her arms still had the signs of being covered in something wet with a bit of blood dried on her skin from the prior run. Each cringed at the the idea while she merely looked at them with an eyebrow raised.

"Did you make him say 'ah' first?" Marron, Krillin and 18's daughter, asked with big eyes.

"Excuse me?" Annya asked as she turned her attention towards the little girl. "Why would I make him say 'ah'?"

"That's what doctors do when they want to look down your throat." Krillin answered.

"That's stupid," Leta spoke softly as she moved away from Annya and Goku despite that her eyes were still attached to Vegeta's prone form.

"Yes well, we don't thrive on pain." Bulma pointed out. "Will he be alright?"

Annya shrugged, "It's possible he will."

"Wait, you didn't know if he'd survive?" Gohan asked as he stared down at the female saiyan.

"It was a fifty-fifty chance. I did slide my arm down his throat, probably stretching it beyond it's limits, and delivered a ki blast on the inside of his stomach. And if he doesn't heal, that's what the Dragonballs are for," she replied as she started to walk out of the crowd.

"And you wonder why your son was insane…" Leta mumbled, before turning to Goku. "You should probably put him down inside."

"Yeah..." Goku said in a slightly somber tone as he maneuvered Vegeta so he was laying over both arms once more. "Man...I hope he will be okay."

"He's a Saiyan." Leta grunted as she followed Goku into the house. "He'll live."

* * *

A day of healing from the fights passed in predictable silence. Vegeta still had yet to wake up - no doubt to the fact that he suffered physical injuries as well as the possession. And the kitchen had basically been raided of most of the food sources. It was just the price Bulma paid for playing hostess to a saiyan horde. In fact the only one out of the newly formed "saiyan horde" who hadn't been at Bulma's house for more than a handful of minutes was Annya.

But the silence of voices was about to be broken when Goten turned around to look at Gohan from his spot near the game console. "Big brother...you said you'd explain why we were the only ones who could blast later. It's later. So why?"

"Oh well…" Gohan paused, thinking over how to explain it.

"It's cause we're half human, duh," Trunks broke in without turning around to face either of them.

"Basically." Gohan smiled.

"Oh," Goten responded in a quiet voice.

He seemed to take that as an answer and turned back around to start his game with Trunks. Gohan went back to the thick novel that his school has assigned as work. But his mind kept going back to the fight they'd had in space. The Tuffles had hated the Saiyans so much that they'd taken all the time to collect the dust of Planet Vegeta and make a chamber out of it. It had been a lightless chamber that no one born from that world (Plantian, Tuffle, or Saiyan) could damage because of some weird connection they had with it. And on top of that they'd created something that could possess someone with Vegeta's strength and start fusing his body with traits that had never been seen on a saiyan before. It didn't matter that they no longer existed, that he'd faded back to the Vegeta they all knew, it just mattered that someone had bioengineered a creature capable of such a feat. He could only imagine how tough the fight would have been if they had let it get accustomed to Vegeta's body and power.

He shuddered thinking about it.

"You okay?" Goku asked as he came around the corner with wet towel wrapped around his shoulders, looking as if he'd just done a round with Cell and barely came out the victor.

Gohan jumped at his dads appearance. "I should be asking you that! What happened?"

Goku's grin looked rather silly if you took in the fact that he looked pretty beat up. His clothes were ripped here and there, and it was easy to see bruises forming in places indicative of fighting. Gohan stood up as he sat his book down, which caused the children near his feet to see what the fuss was all about.

"Well...Annya had that ring attack that contained Vegeta so I asked her to spar," Goku said with a laugh.

"Wait, she did this to you?" Gohan asked with a bit of concern.

"Yeah, she's sleeping now though."

Gohan let out a sigh, relieved that it was a spar rather than an attack. "I can guess why, you're a lot stronger than she is."

Goku's grin hadn't abaited, "It was great even if I'm stronger. We were up to two hundred times gravity and I was even at the super saiyan level!"

"But she's not a super saiyan," Goten said with confusion as he tilted his head.

"I know." Goku's smile faded. "It was weird."

Gohan crossed his his arms over his chest as he looked at his dad. The boys seemed to be very interested in this story now. The game behind them blinked "paused" to show that it even had Trunk's full attention. But honestly it didn't seem that weird to Gohan since he'd already figured something out that the other three didn't know. When Annya had been helping cure the Earth, she'd lost so much energy that her hair had seemed to turn into a different color. And Leta's eyes had turned into the usual saiyan black instead of her crisp blue. He figured out from that, and Annya's own admittance, that while they weren't able to achieve the muscle mass gain of the Super Saiyan form they were normally at the level. And that was shown by the lightness of their hair (as in Annya's case) or the lightness of their eyes (as was Leta's case).

But for some reason, he didn't feel like telling his dad about his observation. It seemed like it would be much more fun to let his dad figure that out for himself.

"So is she sleeping in Vegeta's spare training chamber?" Gohan asked with concern, "If he wakes up and finds her in there...I don't think that would go over well."

"No," Goku smiled. "I took her up to her room, she didn't look that comfortable on the floor."

Trunks nodded with a serious look on his face, as if that was the only right thing to do in that situation. But Goten had the largest smile on his face, which was something that made Gohan curious.

"So Trunks was right? She's my new mommy now?"

Gohan's eyes widened and he nearly choked on air, "What?"

* * *

Meanwhile, in Vegeta and Bulma's room, Vegeta could be found laying on his bed with binding around his chest and a cover thrown over his waist. Leta was pacing around said bed with a hard look on her face. There wasn't worry in her expression, though you might have been able to see it if you knew where to look, despite the fact that internally she was freaking out. He hadn't woken up since they'd brought him home. And while Saiyan's natural healing ability was more equipped to handle battle wounds they definitely weren't infallible.

"Stupid… stupid… If you don't wake up soon, I'll kill you. I swear it." She grumbled to herself as she paced.

The door cracked open, causing her to spin around and tense up. There was the start of a ki blast in her hand from the surprise but she had it fizzle out when she figured out who it was. Trunks, who somehow didn't have any form of bruises from the day before, walked in and shut the door behind him with his foot. His hands were stuffed away in the orange rimmed pockets as he walked over - his own signature look on his face as he stared up at Leta and then over to his dad.

"Is he ever going to wake up?"

"He will," Leta sighed. "He's a Saiyan."

"Yeah, yeah ," Trunks said as he rolled his eyes. "But that didn't help him up on that spaceship did it?"

Leta stared at him, her blue eyes piercing through him. But he pretended not to feel her stare as he walked over to the bedside to stand beside his father. Vegeta was flat on his back, all bandaged up, and it was almost like he just had his eyes closed because they weren't moving. Which Trunks knew wasn't always a good thing - REM level sleep being required even by Saiyans. He let out a sigh as he forced down the bit of a wobble that his mouth wanted to do. He wasn't going to make his father disappointed in him. Besides he was a big brother now, and he had be a strong big brother for them too.

"Where are they?" he asked.

"Hmm who?" Leta asked, her pacing renewed.

"My siblings." Trunks crossed his arms, "I haven't seen them since we got back."

"Oh, Annya still has them hid," Leta replied nonchalantly.

"You don't care?" he asked, surprised.

"No… well… "Leta stopped, her expression perplexed. "I know they're safe so it doesn't matter."

"That doesn't make sense."

"You'll understand when you're older," the elder saiyan said with a bit of a wave of her hand.

Trunks gave her a look before huffing and exiting the room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 2**_

Vegeta opened his eyes slowly, his head feeling like it was pounding. He was oddly reminded of the time when he'd woken up with that hangover. Like last time he felt disorientated and lost. The last thing he could remember was this freakish thing shoving itself down his throat. Then it had forced him to hit his son hard enough that he was pretty sure that Trunk's jaw had broken. From there it was more of a blur but Vegeta had a vague memory of fighting Gohan, Goku, and the girls. Speaking of which...

His dark eyes turned over to Leta who was sitting in the chair with what had to be the most restrained smile she'd ever had.

"I knew you'd wake up." She said, her voice overflowing with pride.

He sent the best glare he could muster in her direction.

"Don't look at me like that, I'm not the one who made you get possessed by that Plantian."

His eyes widened as his mouth flew open to verbalize his surprise, but no noise came out.

"What? Tuffle got your tail?" Leta asked with a bit of a smirk.

He glared at her as he tried to sit up. There was a pain in his ribs and in his mid abdomen the likes of which were familiar, but unwelcomed. And there was also this nagging knot on the top of his head that felt as if someone had tried to break his head open and he hadn't tried to block it at all.

"Annya said you'd feel some discomfort, she did let off a ki blast while her arm was shoved into your stomach." Leta explained.

There was a disgruntled look upon his face as he shoved the covers off of him. He paid no mind to the fact that the only thing he was in was the bandages wrapped around his ribs as he tried to get out of bed.

"No you don't!" Leta jumped up, "You're on bed rest! You got turned into a Plantian and tried to kill us, you aren't going anywhere until Annya or Bulma check you over!"

The very idea of being put on bed rest did not sit well with him. But it didn't make his expression change from what it had already been. As he tried to swat her away he found that Leta had a strong grip when she put her mind to it. And he found out that even the slightest touch to his middle had him wanting t scream. Which he didn't seem to be able to do.

"Besides, where would you be going? You blew up your gravity chamber."

"Come on, get back into bed." Leta gently put her hands on his shoulders, trying to push him down. "Lay down and I'll get you some soup."

* * *

Leta looked down at the food that she'd gotten out of the machine. There wasn't anything left in the kitchen, of course, so all she'd been able to get out of it was some form of broth (waste of time if you asked her, there was nothing in it) that smelled something like onions. There was a lot of it, granted, but she'd been very irritated when she found she couldn't get one with more sustenance in it.

"Oh! Hey, Leta," Goku greeted as he finished chowing down on a muffin.

"Goku," She nodded as she turned to take Vegeta his soup.

"Where are you going?" He asked curiously as he went to follow her. "That's for Vegeta right?"

"Yes. What did you want?"

"I wanted to know if you wanted to go spar. I mean there's nothing else to do right?"

Leta stared at him, "Why not spar with Annya?"

Goku smiled. "Oh I've already spared with her. I was just wondering, if you had nothing to do, if you wanted to fight."

"I'm busy, I have to feed grumpy upstairs." Leta deadpanned.

The smile slipped off of Goku's face in favor of a serious and concerned as he looked up towards the top floor. "How's he doing?"

"Angry," Leta rolled her eyes. "He's not allowed out of bed for a few days."

"Wow, that must be tough for him," Goku said as he frowned. "Gohan said he might be all there, in the head. Does he seem alright?"

Leta took a minute to think, "He's glaring and fighting to get out of bed… Seems fine to me."

"Okay," Goku nodded. "Maybe later then."

* * *

The flamboyant pink clouds of Other World floated by, unhindered by the chaos below. Yet another skirmish between the Saiyans and the Soldiers of Freiza's empire had broken out. The Ogre's were trying to quell the violence, but experience taught them to just keep it from spreading.

In the distance there were those uninterested in the fighting, or those who were simply innocent bystandars. But the bystandars were never the fun ones to watch. It was the ones who thought they were above the fighting you had to watch out for. And among them was a person who had earned quite the reputation for themselves.

"Tuffles...once more they have failed," a figure said as they watched the large screen that played the current, important events in the Northern Quadrant.

"Perhaps," it paused, eyes glancing around, "stronger measures must be taken."

* * *

Videl smiled as she looked up at Gohan. Only he was back in his Saiyaman disguise. Below them stretched west city in all directions as they stood on the top of the tallest building. Heights had lost their fear factor when she'd learned to fly. And though her balance wasn't as good as his, she trusted in her flying ability.

"Quiet day," Gohan commented.

"Yeah, nice after the year we've had." Videl added.

Gohan smiled under his helmet after that. If Videl thought that was a rough year she'd have never believed the time with the Android and Cell. Or even before then with Frieza. Heck, even his training with Mr. Piccolo in preparation for Vegeta and Nappa had been more active. The only difference was that the whole Tuffle thing had been mentally exhausting - ups and downs at every turn. It was kind of just another reminder of how she was just barely starting to fit into his life.

"Can you believe that the school year is over?" Gohan changed the subject.

"Not really," Videl admitted. "After that virus, we barely had any school. It felt like summer vacation."

"It went by quickly," he agreed.

The city below seemed to be coming back to life after the Tuffle Virus. And life tended to bring out the best and the worst in people. And speaking of the worse...

"I think that's a robbery in progress," Gohan said as he pointed to the ground below.

He could see it, not in super detail, but for a moment he'd forgotten that Videl might not be able to see it. After all they were so very high up. Gohan jumped off of the area and motioned for Videl to follow him, making sure to stay between her and what looked to be shooters. Videl followed, not liking that he shot off without her. Despite being closer, she still couldn't make out what Gohan was looking at.

"I don't see a robbery!" Videl said in frustration.

But it was almost as soon as she said that, that she started to hear the signs of a gunshot. Her eyes turned over to Gohan in surprise. How had he seen that? But instead of answering her, he just pointed downwards. And then suddenly...she couldn't even see him anymore.

"GOHAN!" Videl called out, dropping from the sky as quickly as she could. "Hey, Hey! Where did you go?"

As she landed, she found herself in the line of fire.

Videl's arms shot up in a last resort, covering her face. She could feel her heart pound in her ears but then there was no pain. Videl moved her arms out from her face and watched as Gohan, in his Saiyman costume, bent down and picked one of the...wait were those bullets? They looked like they had hit concrete or something!

"Good sir!" Gohan called out, "I think you dropped this!"

And Videl's eyes couldn't have gotten any wider when she noticed that Gohan had flicked the used-bullet back into the barrel of a gun to effectively back it up. She watched with mixed horror and surprise as Gohan quickly took out the rest of the guns.

When had he gotten so fast?

"Well Miss Satan, can I trust you to hand these hoodlums over to the authorities?" Gohan questioned up from beneath his helmet.

Videl could only nod as a contemplative look slipped over her face.

"Very well! Good day to you all!" Gohan postured before he began a slow ascent.

* * *

An hour later, Videl had finally been able to corner Gohan once again. She had a lot of questions for him that needed answering. So when she finally did catch back up to him, she wasted no time in removing the helmet of his saiyaman disguise.

"Okay mister, exactly how fast are you?" Videl asked as she tried to stand eye to eye with him, but she still had a pretty big distance to look up.

"What? Videl!" Gohan exclaimed. "What brought this up?"

"You stopped those bullets Gohan! And then you flung it back at that guy!" Videl exclaimed with exaggerated arm movements.

Gohan laughed nervously, "I didn't stop those bullets. I...kind of let them hit me so you didn't get hit."

Though he could have stopped them if he wanted to, he just hadn't thought about it. But from the look in Videl's eyes, he could tell that she didn't believe him. So he moved the tunic around a bit to stretch the fabric to show her exactly where the multiple different bullets hit.

"No… There's no way!" Videl freaked out. "They couldn't have just bounced off of you!"

He stilled for a second. Was it really so hard for her to believe? After everything she'd seen...was him not being affected by bullets that mind blowing?

"They did Videl," he said in a slow, calm voice.

"But you're not hurt! That isn't how this works!"

"It does for us Videl," he tried to tell her.

"...for all of you guys? Or just for Saiyans."

"All of us," he confirmed. "Well maybe not Master Roshi...or Oolong...but most of us, yeah."

"That's ridiculous!" she exclaimed and stopped her foot. "So you've been holding back on me this whole time? How much?"

"Videl…" Gohan hesitated.

"Tell me! Tell me the truth!" She glared, "How strong are you?"

"It's...hard to describe," Gohan started. "Okay, what would you say if there was a person who could destroy a world with a single blow? Like blowing the world up."

"Gohan…" She paused, breath caught in her throat, "You can't be that strong…"

"And a million times more," he said with bit of guilt.

She stared at him, her expression a mixture of pure horror and disbelief.

"It takes a lot to not hurt you or anyone else by accident. Why do you think I don't touch people Videl?" Gohan asked, guilt and frustration swirling in his emotion. "I get people killed when I do try to save them...and I could kill you when I don't."

"Gohan…" she paused, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't want you to be afraid of me!" Gohan exclaimed. "I can see it you know. You're afraid. And you should be!"

"Don't say that!" She shouted back. "I wouldn't be so upset if you hadn't lied to me!"

"I've never lied to you!" His fist clenched.

"You kept things form me! That's close enough!"

"I kept them away from you because I was trying to protect you."

"I didn't ask you to!" Videl screamed. "I can take care of myself! I'm not your damsel in distress!"

"Yes you are Videl! You are!"

Videl froze, shocked by what he said.

He held out his pointer finger. "If I wanted...I could use this finger...and kill you, without using any ki. I could drill this straight through your skull and not feel it."

"I don't believe you!" Videl said. "You know what, I'm just going to go and we can talk about this tomorrow."

Gohan grabbed her wrist as he held her in place, not even thinking about how tight he was holding her.

"Let me go Gohan..." Videl said in a tight, controlled voice as she tried not to wince in pain.

"Damn it Videl, you wanted the truth! So I'm trying to tell it to you. You know I'm part Saiyan...that gave me a boost up from birth. But I've done so much that it's like walking about with a nuke inside of me and I'm playing Russian Roulette with a bomb over the top of it. Except I could probably laugh off a nuke if I wanted to! When you were five years old...you were having your mom tuck you into bed. When I was five years old I was fighting for my life and the life of everyone else! Next to that...you're still a baby!"

Videl reached out with her other hand and slapped him on the cheek. "My mother died when I was five you jerk!"

Gohan shook her for a moment as he stared directly at her watching her wince when she drew her hand back. When he saw that he instantly released her, backing up as he stared down at her. Videl grabbed her wrist which was quickly bruising. Only bending her hand hurt a great deal too.

"I...Videl...I'm..." He couldn't believe it.

"I HATE YOU!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter three**_

Goku looked down at the small sack in his hand. The very few beans inside were small and a little withered. But it was the best harvest they could have hoped for since the Tuffles had injected the virus into the air. It was a wonder that they could get anything to begin with.

"Thanks Korin!" Goku said with a wide smile as he tucked the beans into his belt folds since it was too light to do otherwise.

"Any time Goku. Tell the others Hi for me, alright?"

Goku nodded, "Sure thing!"

With that he jumped off the lookout tower and took off towards home. Well, his new home. With Bulma. His old home with his Grandpa Gohan...the one where his children were born...thinking about it brought a frown to his face. He didn't like thinking about it. Satan city, which used to be called West City, came into view soon enough and then so did Bulma's house. When he landed finding the group was easy, like most of the time they were gathered around the food. Except Gohan and Annya were missing which made the food consumption a lot less.

"Hey Vegeta, good to see you up," Goku said with a wide smile.

Vegeta looked over to him with a light glare as he sucked down a bowl of soup.

"Mine." Leta said, her face blank as she sat next to Vegeta with her own food.

"Wait, what's his?" Bulma asked as she waved hello to Goku.

Goku shrugged, "Leta said it."

"Yes, but Leta's speaking for Vegeta." Bulma crossed her arms, turning to Leta, "What's his?"

"He was greeting Goku," Leta nodded.

Vegeta sent a glare her way.

"Wait, are you translating for him?" Goku questioned as he moved over and took a seat.

"Yes." Leta punctuated that by taking a bite of a sandwich.

"So he still can't talk huh?" Everyone's favorite hero asked as he stuffed a bun down his mouth.

"Nope." Leta smiled, "So I must translate Vegeta-ese for everyone."

Goku looked up from the food on his plate as he reached out for the sushi in the middle of the table. Only for his hand to be smacked. Vegeta glared at him - he knew he couldn't eat too many solid foods...but damn it he was going to eat the sushi.

"Mine." Leta growled, her calm expression not matching the venom in her voice.

Goku glared lightly at Vegeta. It didn't have the same spite fire as the Saiyan Prince but there was a bit of ire in the dark orbs.

Vegeta simply glared as he reached for his next bowl of soup.

"Mine." Leta growled again before taking another bite of her sandwich.

"I just wanted one piece," Goku said evenly. "You don't have to be so stingy Vegeta...there are plenty!"

"You can have one Goku. He's just being Mr. Grumpy pants because Leta isn't letting him go out and train. Not that he could, I mean he did blow up his training chamber."

"But you hav-"

Bulma stepped on his foot with the metal spike in her heel.

Both Leta and Vegeta gave them matching perplexed looks.

"There you are," came the disgruntled voice of everyone's favorite badass.

"Oh, hey dad," Goku said, suprised by how easily the title rolled out of his mouth. "Were you looking for me?"

And while Vegeta was distracted by the new arrivals, he snatched a piece of the yummy sushi. Before he could try to eat it, it was stolen from his grasp by Leta, who proceeded to eat it herself.

"That was mine Leta!" Goku replied in an excited, unhappy tone.

"Vegeta was going to die trying to eat it." Leta huffed, "I just saved his life, I see how grateful you all are."

"But...I was going to eat it," the confused saiyan looked at her for an explanation.

"You were going to _try_. And Vegeta was going to notice."

"Mine." Leta growled, her tone matching Vegeta's glare.

"But it wasn't his," Goku commented.

Bardock stood off to the side, slightly perturbed by how easily he was forgotten about. If he'd been an enemy he could have used their distraction and done something horrible. They should all be happy that he was trying this...peaceful shit.

"Did you need something, Bardock?" Bulma asked, noticing how distracted Goku had become.

The eldest saiyan there grunted as he crossed his arms. "The King was calling all the higher ups to chit chat in the war room."

Bulma blinked. "We have a war room?"

Bardock just shrugged, "I'm supposed to collect those two."

Goku stood up with an arm of food and a smile on his face. He followed after Bardock when he turned around and started walking away. It was easy to see that they were talking about something or other as Bardock took handfuls of food out of Goku's arms. But by the time they got to the War Room which was really just the outdoor seating, they'd stopped. Mainly because Bardock wasn't that big on conversation.

"Hn, where's the female?" King Vegeta asked from his seat.

"She's with the prince," Bardock answered as he took a seat on the ground as he didn't trust the "flimsy" plastic seating.

"And where is the prince?" King Vegeta continued.

"Being a wuss without a voice," Bardock grunted.

"No, Vegeta's still hurt." Goku defended, "Wait! I was supposed to give him a sensu bean…"

"What is this Sensu bean you're talking about?" King Vegeta asked.

"They're beans that heal you when you eat one." Goku smiled. "So what did you want?"

"The future of our race must be decided." The king announced. "We have completed the task given to us by the humans; this planet cannot sustain us."

"Sure it can," Goku said almost immediantly. "The farmers will be back to work now...and all the animals are recovering."

"That will not matter when our population begins to grow within the next solar cycle." King Vegeta argued.

"Grow?" Goku stopped and then his eyes widened. "How many of the women are pregnant?"

"All of 'em." Bardock shrugged, it wasn't news to him.

"And with the full moon coming up, this represents a situation where the circumstances have to change," King Vegeta articulated.

"Why?" Goku asked, confused.

"We're all about to go ape shit on your planet," Bardock said in a huff.

Goku blinked, realization slowly sinking in. He could almost imagine the hundreds of saiyans who were on the world (where the rest were, he wasn't sure) suddenly transforming from the light of the full moon. There would be giant monkeys everywhere! Well, at least where they were. But with all the havoc and stomping around...

"That's not a good thing," Goku admitted. "Is there a chance we can just make sure no one looks at the moon?"

The king and Bardock simply stared at him, their expressions conveying that they thought him to be insane.

"Okay, well..." Goku tried to continue on without that idea, "then what are we going to do?"

"A new home world has already been prepared." King Vegeta answered.

Goku tilted his head. There was something about that statement that seemed like it had more to it. It was strange to think about the fact that there was going to be a new planet Vegeta to him considering he didn't even know about the first one until he was in his twenties. Plus he'd started to like to have other people like him around - every time he wanted to spar there was always someone around.

"Oh. When are you leaving?"

"A week, before this planets full moon." Bardock nodded.

"So who's all going?" Goku asked with a smile.

It was almost like it hadn't sunk in yet...

Any further discussion was brought to a halt by the slamming of a door. Vegeta stomped out with his fists clenched and his jaw set. And when Vegeta reached them (the poor ground that had attempted to get under his feet had dents in it) he stopped to stare at Goku with a "Well?" expression on his face.

"Hi Vegeta!" Goku smiled.

Seeing the fact that he wasn't going to get anything out of the others in his mute state, Vegeta held out his hand in a demanding way. Or at least what he would have thought was an obvious demanding way.

"Something wrong? Where's Leta?" Goku asked.

Vegeta's eyes narrowed on Goku. The whole situation about being possessed was embarrassing enough but the fool just wouldn't shut up and give him what he wanted. At least he'd be able to talk and yell at everyone again. And maybe then that infernal zeyato of his would leave him alone.

"Sorry Vegeta, I don't know what you want."

Exhaling deeply through his nose in order to ward off any attempt at a snarl, Vegeta lunged for the other Saiyan, intent on taking what he wanted.

"Now is not the time for shananagans," King Vegeta said in a booming voice as he looked between his son and Bardock's.

Both boys froze at the sound of the kings voice, looking at him with confusion.

"Shanana-wha?" Goku asked.

"Who's committing shananagans?" Leta asked as she joined the group, having finally followed her prince outside.

"The two idiots," Bardock grunted.

"Oh my," Leta said in an exaggerated, suggestive tone.

"What?" Goku yelped, pushing Vegeta off of him, "What'd we do?"

"Nothing yet," Leta said, "but in the future...oh the future."

The glare she received from Vegeta clearly stated that if she didn't explain now, she would be feeling his wrath.

"Now now, that's no way to treat your proxy voice." Leta wagged her finger at him. "Especially when you have shananagans on your mind."

"Pro-oh yeah," Goku said as he snapped his fingers. "I have the sensu beans Vegeta."

Vegeta whipped his head around to look at Goku, his glare magnified. He held his hand out, waiting to receive the bean.

Goku smiled as he reached into his belt to pull out the small bag. "Now...if you want a bean, Vegeta...all you have to do is ask."

Vegeta's expression turned sickly and pale while Leta began coughing into her hand out of shock, she had no idea Goku could be so mean.

Goku rocked on the heels of his feet as he bent over a little, a knowing smile on his face as he stared at Vegeta. "Come on Vegeta...one bean and all you have to do is say please."

Covering her mouth was all Leta could do to contain her shocked laughter. The King and Bardock watched, curiously, as the princes eye began to twitch. Then, a look of deep seeded rage transformed his face from its previous pale color to blood red. Vegeta lunched at Goku, mindless of his other wounds, and tried to reach for the bag of beans. Goku snatched them back just in time for Vegeta to crash into his chest. And as he wasn't expecting the force at which the saiyan prince decided to do so, Goku fell backwards.

"See, shananagans," Leta spoke out in a smile. "I'm glad the two of you are finally ready to admit that you want to fuck each other."

The skirmish came to a halt right then. And though Vegeta couldn't voice it, he was along the same wide eyed line as Goku's "What?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter Four**_

Gohan couldn't help but stare at the place where Videl had flown off from. He'd actually...hurt her. Granted it wasn't like she wouldn't heal in a few days (he hoped) and it was rather mild. And she'd hurt one of her own hands by slapping him...but he should have been able to stop her! He shouldn't have gripped her wrist so hard to begin with! He hadn't even known he was gripping her too tightly. It was so hard to judge. He hadn't been able to gauge. He should have known better than to touch her to begin with. But his emotions had gotten the better of him and he hadn't thought about it. He hadn't thought about it. He'd just reacted on instinct. And that, he knew, was the real problem.

He needed help.

Gohan turned around and hurried off. There was only one person he knew that never seemed to act on instinct.

"Ummm, Annya? Can I ask a favor of you?"

Annya looked at him for a moment, raising a dark eyebrow. "What is it?"

Gohan sighed as he plopped down on a rock across from her.

"Videl and I got into a fight and I accidentally hurt her...I didn't mean to. I just acted on instinct," He said with a whisper. "I didn't even notice I was hurting her."

Annya nodded, "And what can I do...?"

"I need you to train me."

"You're far stronger than me," Annya replied calmly, "but you want me to teach you?"

"Please, Annya? I don't...know how to do it myself," He put both hands on both her shoulders and leaned in closer to add to his effect.

Annya looked up at him, curious about what he wanted her to teach him but unwilling to really show it. It wasn't that the idea of training anyone was strange to her - she'd been doing that for years. But training someone who was far stronger than her when they put their mind to winning was definitely a new one.

"What could I possibly teach you that you don't already know?"

"Seeming human," Gohan looked away and stepped back, "This is me trying to hold as much as I can back."

He jumped lightly and soared 20 feet into the air and floated there. When he dropped down he walked over to a protruding rock. With a quick jab at the rock, he watched as it cracked and split in two.

"If I were able to control and hold back my strength to appear to be more human...Would I still jump 20 feet in the air?" he rose a questioning eyebrow at her.

"You appear very human as it is," Annya answered honestly. "Except for your tail. Are you just wanting to appear more human? Because we could find a way to take your tail back off. Or were you meaning appear in the action of the word? Like behave and physically react to the higher standards and comply with the restraints of a human body? Like...pretending that Hercule Satan might stand a chance against you in a fight type of human?"

Gohan's mood brightened and he laughed, "Yes! thats it!"

"Are you stressed out, Gohan?" Annya asked as she stood still in the lock he'd put her in. "School...the situation with your mother...Videl...it wouldn't be hard to understand if you were. You shouldn't joke about training to be human just because you're worried you won't be accepted."

"I don't want to hurt Videl anymore!"

Annya looked at him with a bit of understanding. It had been easy for him to live normally out in the woods. He wouldn't have had to interact with too many humans too often. And if he'd accidently took down a tree because he got frustrated, then that just meant he had more firewood that night. But if he did that in the city with others around he would stick out like a giant monkey.

"Humans are good for many things and they have many good qualities but we're just born physically superior. And acting like you're one of them...the control you're talking about doesn't come quickly."

"Annya, I know of a place where we could get a year's worth of training in one day." he smiled slowly.

"That seems nearly impossible," was the redheads reply.

Gohan chuckled, suddenly in a very good mood. "Oh yes, there's a room on a place called the Lookout. It's called The Hyperbolic Time Chamber. When you're inside, time move differently. A day in the outside world is a year on the inside."

Annya stared at him, not denying what he was saying. She wasn't going to outright accept it either. Then again, she'd have thought that bringing the long since dead back to life had been impossible a year ago too. And they'd proven her wrong. But if what he was saying was true it was a wonder how the Earth hadn't garnered attention from more advanced alien races yet. Other than the ones she'd heard about who simply wanted to fight Goku.

"A year's worth of practice might be enough to help if you're a quick study. But you have to understand...it will be tedious and perhaps uncomfortable."

He stood and stretchd. Gohan was actually excited at the thought of going back in the chambert, he was turning into his father, always ready and excited at the concept of improving. Annya followed his lead and stood up, her tail wrapping around her waist over the cotton coat she had on.

"Lead on."

* * *

"This is gonna be fun." he stated smiling, as he looked beside him to see Annya right there, his smiled wider.

"Not for you," Annya said mildly as she touched down on the white tile of the lookout base. "This is where the Guardian of Earth lives isn't it? Overlords always keep all the fun toys to themselves."

Gohan shrugged and nodded, "No kidding. I'd love to raise a family up here."

Then he noticed what he said and blushed, he lead the way to the hyperbolic time chamber, and opened the door stepping inside.

Gohan looked back at Annya and smiled, "Come on in."

Lately, it seemed that every new place she went to had an obsession for white. This new chamber wasn't any different. The walls, floor, and almost none existent ceiling was white. And as she stepped through what looked to be a living pavalon, Annya was struck by the endless feeling that stretched out before her. It was a bit tripy - like fighting in space. Only there were no stars, no planets near by, and it was the exact opposite of the black abyss. She heard the door close behind her and as she looked for it, Annya found that the door seemed to have vanished on them.

Her eyes turned back to what she supposed was her newest pupil. The son of Goku. Quite possibly the first hybrid born to the saiyan race. It was strange really - other than having her answer his questions he'd almost seemed to avoid her most of the time. Unless Goten decided he was bored and wanted to go play of course. Or when she called him to run interference. Okay, so maybe avoid was too strong of a term. But she'd honestly thought she'd shocked him enough to last more than one life time at the very least.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Annya asked in a clear voice, feeling disoriented for a moment as it seemed to echo all around her. "Honestly...I've never had to teach something like this. The closest I got was when your father decided to drag me along for your family outing and I tried to teach you, your father, and Goten the basics of controlling your bestial form."

"Yeah, I'm actually more worried if you're sure, this room has a lot of mysteries," he said with a son grin.

Gohan looked at her after stripping his shirt off for his excercises. He walked out about a hundred feet and powered up to his super saiyan form and started stretching and throwing random punches and kicks to regain his awareness for this room. Annya watched him walk out. There was a striking resemblance in that moment between him and his father. Not that Gohan would ever get the resemblance unless she told him the situation. And the similar situation was something she'd rather not get into a conversation with other people. There were only two real big differences between them at this moment - what the goal of the situation was and the fact that Gohan felt he needed to transform right off the bat.

As she watched him adjust to the different atmosphere and center of gravity of this place, Annya slipped off her cotton jacket and laid it on the ground. More than likely she was going to need a spare change of clothes unless this place had extra things she could wear. Somehow, considering it's prior participants (judging by the fact that the fighters of Earth were male) she doubted they had taken into consideration clothing. Oh well.

She stepped out of the living area and into the endless expanse. Annya bounced from one foot to the other before flickering out into various different flips around the place. Gohan stopped to catch his breath only for his air to leave him when he saw Annya take off her jacket and start to flip around. It was her first time in something as odd feeling as this and she wanted to check to see if it limited her in any way. Apparently not. Which was what made Gohan pause for a moment and marvel. The first time he was out in the chamber he had complications until he adjusted. But then again, Annya was a lot older than him and might have run into similar situations before anyways.

Annya stopped when she was pretty sure of the situation in the room. At least for this moment. When she turned back around she found Gohan sitting down and watching her. Was she not supposed to test the area for herself?

"And I was able to do it with my shirt on," Annya said dryly, covering up her confusion over his stare. "Did you get tired of being a Super Saiyan?"

Gohan smiled nervously and stratched his nose. He knew he'd been caught staring and he wasn't sure why he'd really been staring. After all, it wasn't like he had meant to...and she definately wasn't in heat.

"Sorry...I was just testing. I haven't been here since I was a kid, before...Cell..." Gohan trailed off. "I'm surprised you have such an easy time adjusting. I fell flat on my face the first time."

The redheaded female saiyan walked out towards him. She'd spared with his father in the gravity chamber multiple time at various different levels of gravity when he was at his super saiyan level. And each time he'd seemed surprised by how long she could keep up. Not to say she could carry it on any farther than that level and each time she generally ended up passing out.

"Stage one: catch me and keep me caged for ten seconds."

* * *

Twenty hours later...

He reappeared in front of her before jumping in the air over her as she made move to dodge. When he came back down he locked both arms around her waist with her arms at her side.

"Umm... do you want me to count?" he asked as he scratched his head, then widened his eyes as he watched one of her arms drop.

She reached for his tail which he usually left very unguarded and gripped it. Not in the kind way either, but in the way she knew would cause pain. In the moment when his grip loosened she slipped out of his hold, hand still on his tail, and only releasted it when her feet were firmly planted on his back in mid air.

Gohan sighed and stood cracking his neck and he wrapped his tail around his waist tightly and with a determined look on his face he said, "That won't happen again."

"One last try, Gohan, before we go to bed," Annya said as she stretched upwards.

Gohan nodded as he watched her stretch, trying to figure out how to move past this part. She was surprisingly resourceful to break out of a hold. And that was if he could get a hold of her to begin with! For the last twenty hours he'd only been able to fully grab a hold of her five times. Sure he knew she trained with his dad all the time but...it was getting pretty rediculous.

Annya moved forward towards him before he could fully wrap his head around all his prior mistakes. Gohan flew backwards, avoiding the kick that was meant for his rib cage. He grabbed the outstretched leg and brought it up, slamming her back down into the white ground and holding her body down with his. His hands quickly went to grab her hands before she could do anything to let herself out as he made sure to keep his head just far enough away from her foot so she couldn't kick his ear.

"Now, count." he stated with authority.

"One, two," she kept wiggling her tail and making him giggle and tighten his hold on purpose. "Three, four."

Gohan frowned and sped up her count, "6, 7, 8 , 9, 10!"

She relaxed her body underneath him. "But there's one problem Gohan..."

And the tickling him with the tip of her tail on his open skin was said problem.

Gohan quickly wrapped his own tail around hers trapping it, but still laughing his head off. "Stop.. Oh! heheheh Ha! S-Stop it!" he giggled as he tightened his hold unconsciously.

"Never took you for one to put a girl in his position," Annya spoke out teasingly she stopped tickling him. "But I was wrong...with how tight you're holding on to me I'd say you'd have broken Videl's hip by now."

Gohan quickly moved away, a blush spreading over his cheeks as he coughed nervously. "Say would you like something to eat?"

"Go on and eat, I want to see how far this thing stretches if I can," Annya replied as she got up. But before they parted ways, she turned around and said, "Try not to burn your meat this time...you can't live on charcoal for too long."

* * *

A few days had passed as they repeated the game of cage-tag until she was pretty sure he wouldn't tighten his grip too much. Of course they still had to work on what his default grip level was to begin with but it was a start knowing it was harder to change once "activated". Unfortunately for him she had not yet begun to play dirty to try and get him to let go yet. A bit of tail pulling and tickling were nothing compared to what she could have done to the poor half saiyan. And once again, unfortunetaly, he was about to find out.

Gohan had his back to her his eyes closed and he was smirking, his tail curled around her own lightly hoping she didn't notice. After all, while he understood that she didn't react as drastically to someone grabbing her tail she was rather protective over it.

"Ready to begin again?"

In a blink of an eye his tail curled around her tail completely. Annya looked to her side with narrowed eyes but Gohan kept his confident smirk. Then he spun around and flung her on the bed. Before she had time to get off, Gohan shot forward and landed on her lap locking his legs around her legs and pinning both arms above her head.

"I win." he stated with a smile. "Now can we move on?"

"Points for landing on the bed, that definately does soften the landing," Annya allowed easily as she looked up towards her hands as if she didn't really understand why they were above her. "But you're forgetting something..."

She brought her knee up to what was more than likely a sensative area in sync with the blast of ki that shot out of her mouth. In the moment when Gohan would have had no choice but to let go she had gotten out of the living area and straight into the white. From that point on she didn't stay in one place long enough for more than an after image.

"Protect yourself without bringing damage to the person you're trying to hold."

* * *

Gohan groaned when he awoke the next morning before Annya. The day before, when he'd made the mistake of pinning Annya to the bed, they'd called it quits because he hadn't actually been able to walk for a few hours. And apprently Annya had wanted to regain some of her energy. That was the only salve he had in it all - he'd at least been able to take her down to half stored energy over the last few days. Still...he felt a little foolish...

He stretched and walked out into the white abyss. After he powered up to his super saiyan 2 form he began shooting ki blasts all over the place, each with something like a homing signal to make things more interesting. Gohan dodged out of the way only to land on the ground where it had grown cold. He could feel the frost freezing the material in rapid succession, shattering when he tried to walk. His skin tried to adjust quickly like any full born saiyan but he could still feel the biting cold like needles in his skin.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Annya was now awake so he wanted to make a good impression. He needed to make up for the fact the fact that he'd been such an idiot the day before. Because even if she hadn't brought it up he still felt like he'd slipped below some line.

"Ka... Me... Ha... Me.. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" he yelled as a large cerulean energy wave expelled out of his hands.

Gohan struggled with the power behind the blast as the ice turned into a raging inferno. Every muscle in his body tensed as he made it clear the living area and explode a short distance away. He sagged his shoulders as the temperature around him evened out and he let the Kamehameha blast fade out. Just as he turned to look to see where his training partner was, Annya walked out of the living area with steam rolling out from the bathing chamber behind her. Her hair was still damp but still gravity defiant. It was not as spikey as the males of her species but definately distinguishable from human hair none the less. And though she'd just gotten out of the bath her clothes were perfectly dry, well except for the mark down her back where the towel just couldn't help as much.

"You need to stay consistant, Gohan," Annya called out. "Gaining strength is good...but being able to keep that same level for longer periods of time is better. The longer you're used to holding on to something, the easier keeping it becomes. Make it a habit to keep yourself in a singular state until it's needed otherwise."

She turned back to head over to where the food was as she called out, "By the way the bath is free. And from the looks of your hair you might need help washing down."

Gohan perked up at the idea of a bath but then his mind started to understand what came after that. The fact that she said it with a serious and straight face only made him feel more awkward. She hadn't thought that sounded suggestive...but it had put thoughts in his head. Thoughts he needed to get rid of so he could focus on his end goal.

"Oh, and when you are able to stay applified in your Super Saiyan two form for a week without breaking anything, we will start on your beastial form. Don't want to give anyone a nasty surprise when the moon turns full."

"A week?" Gohan asked as his eyebrows raised. "That's...do we have enough food?"

"Oh, you're not going to be allowed to eat anymore than you normally would Gohan. This is about controlling your levels. Not about feeding your stomach."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Just to make sure this is clear, the chapters with Gohan and Annya in the Hyperbolic Time chamber are happening simultaneously with the other chapters. You have to remember that while they are spending a year inside of the chamber, only a day will have passed on the outside.

* * *

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 5 **_

To say that holding his Super Saiyan 2 form while training, eating, and all other assorted things would be an understatement. In fact he hadn't been able to do it yet and he'd been in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber with Annya for three months already! The list of things broken had started to rack up. One of the beds had been demolished when he'd gone to sit down on it and so they'd been alternating sleeping patterns. A few shelves in the food storage area had snapped when he reached for them just from the concentration of his energy alone. They no longer had a table to eat at...he'd snapped that just two weeks ago. And if it wasn't for Annya thinking quickly and reparing the beams before the place collapsed, they'd have not had any proper living area!

The only upside was that he was on his seventh day this time and he'd yet to break anything. It felt like one of his larger accomplishments really, as silly as that sounded. He had a feeling that the next time he went to the bathroom to cut his hair though...he'd end up breaking something. So he'd been avoiding doing that. Which meant that his hair reached down to his waist. Something it hadn't done since the last time he was in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

Sweat dripped down his face, falling from his chin, as he continued to push past the exhaustion. Five days training where sometimes Annya would participate and something she'd leave him alone. He wasn't sure which one he prefered at this point honestly as the time just seemed to blur together. True to her word she had kept both of their rations at normal levels. Perhaps not what humans would have considered normal but it definately wasn't the unending amount he was used to when exerting so much energy. It had taken it's toll once or twice, causing the counter to have to restart. He'd tried to complain about that once but Annya had just brushed it off and told him he should be lucky she didn't count sleeping time.

He didn't know if it was the increased agression levels of his Super Saiyan 2 transformation or if it was just normal frustraition, but he had wanted to try and strangle her for that notion. And she seemed to be able to tell because she'd walked closer to him with a challenging "do it" look in her black eyes. Needless to say he hadn't. But he'd thought about it more than once. Then again he'd thought about pushing her ino a wall every once in a while when she'd come out of the bath still partially wet. And that, he knew, he couldn't blame on his Saiyan side.

Gohan pushed himself up from his hands and knees as he steeled over the emotions on his face. And with that he got back to work. Kick after kick, punch after punch. Gohan kept practicing all the moved he'd gained over the years - the ones he learned from Piccolo, the ones he'd learned from his father, and even the ones he'd learned by watching others. Ki blast after ki blast, Gohan could feel his levels drop lower and lower. His muscles protested the movements but he pushed through it. Just like with his training with Cell, he couldn't give in. He couldn't give up. Not now, not ever. He couldn't give in now...he was doing this for Videl. He couldn't get distracted now. He still had nine months to go.

Out of the corner of his teal colored eye he saw Annya start to walk closer to him. But it was hard to see her really, his vision had started to tunnel a few minutes back. And the closer she got the lighter his head felt, the more disconnected his body seemed to become the more he kept screaming at it to more.

"Come on, it's time to eat," Annya said as she stopped one of his punches, holding onto his fist with her hand.

Gohan started to nod. And then he passed out.

* * *

Light started to invade his eyes as all his different senses started to come together once again. He was on something soft and his arms were around something as well. He felt fresh but at the same time he felt as if he were dying of dehydration and starvation.

"Good, you're awake," the thing in his arms said blandly.

Gohan nearly jumped as his eyes shot open. He scooted back as much as the bed would allow him without falling off and sat up, mimicking Annya's motion. It wasn't the first time since he'd met her that he woke up like that, but it was definately the first time when he didn't even remember going to bed.

"...what happened?" His thoughts felt a little blurry.

"You passed out during training," she replied smoothly.

"Why were you in bed with me?"

"Because sometime during your sleep you started to have a nightmare. And instead of sacrificing the only bed to your fits, I gave you a teddy bear you couldn't break."

Gohan nodded in understanding. That had apparently happened the first time he'd woken up next to her with his father on the other side. It seemed strange though. He hadn't had nightmares this frequent since he was a kid. But he did remember that his bed had to be repaired a lot after the whole Cell tournement. Nightmares of all the past villians he'd faced had always seemed the worst even if he could barely remember them upon waking. They always left him with a feeling of bone chilling fear and pain upon waking.

"And, before you ask, your clothes are in the washer...I didn't have time to move them to the dryer before you needed that teddy bear," Annya answered as she swung her legs over the bed and stood up.

The half saiyan looked down sharply and finally noticed the fact that he didn't have any of his shirts on. And if what he was feeling underneath the sheet was right...his pants and underwear were gone too. A blush stole across his face as he watched her turn around and walk away.

"Wait," Gohan called out as he tried to force the blood out of his face. "When did I pass out?"

Annya turned back around and he couldn't help but try and pull the sheets up for more coverage. While he knew that saiyans didn't have the same sense of modesty or idea of embarrassment as most human cultures, the idea that he'd been naked in a bed with any girl was enough to make him wish he hadn't woken up! If his mom ever heard about this...well...her opinion of Annya would probably get even lower. And he'd never hear the end of it! And if Videl found out - oh he didn't even want to think about that. He could only hope it never got out.

"If you're asking if you have to do the week again, Gohan, the answer is yes," with that she continued walking away. "And next time you try to bite me when I'm giving you a bath, I'm going to make you bite your tongue."

Gohan groaned and released his death grip of the sheets as he laid back down.

* * *

There was one good thing to his passing out incident - Annya had given him twice the amount of food as normal that day.

"You swoud coob ma obfen," Gohan tried to say, his mouth full of everything he could get his hands on.

It wasn't restaurant worthy food but after eating only plain meat and raw vegitables the fact that she'd made plain rice and tried to boil some seasoned vegitables made it felt like heaven to his mouth. And while the tea was either too weak or too strong, it was nice to have something besides water. Still it was easy to see she didn't spend much, if any time, in a kitchen. Even though he hadn't been able to look her in the eyes while he was eating he could appreciate that she'd tried to do something different. At least she wasn't as hopeless as he and his Dad had been.

She looked at him and shook her head, "I don't do human-domestic. Next time it's your turn."

Gohan laughed at that, nearly choking on his food. The idea of him being in a kitchen at all, unless it was to pick up food or get something to drink, was hilarious. He was less than useless in the kitchen as his mom could attest to. And if she wanted him to cook in his Super Saiyan 2 form? Hah! He'd break and incinerate more things than would be edible!

Suprisingly he'd been able to go the whole week without breaking anything or powering down. He felt exhausted when she'd announced time up but he hadn't powered down. Which seemed to annoy her. Good. Payback.

"Power down Gohan."

"I thought you wanted me to stay like this?" He asked, his voice serious as the saiyan blood pumped through him.

She stood before him, arms crossed under her chest as she tried to stare him down. Normally he'd have relented, even been happy to power down. But he was so much taller than she was, and bigger all around. Add on the fact of the heightened sense of aggression and the fact that he wanted to get payback for all the times she with held food or restarted the clock...it equaled him being stubborn.

"Fine. You have an hour of rest before we get restarted on the next part."

He smirked and let the transformation drop when she turned her back on him and walked away. Sometimes winning felt just as good as knowing he was improving.

* * *

"Push through it," Annya said blandly as she watched Gohan faulter in his steps.

She had stopped her own practicing to make sure he was doing okay. She hadn't been up front when she said they were going to train his bestial form. There were different levels she had to get him accustomed too, different steps before she would even attempting releasting a blutz ball for him to see.

First step was for him to try and overcome her Lunar Rings as they squeezed the life from him. The only catch was that he was not allowed to jump to a transformed state beyond Super Saiyan. And considering she rivaled that of his father's Super Saiyan stength for a short amount of time, thus matched him for a short time as well, it wasn't like he could instantly break out. The more he struggled, the tighter she had them get. It took a lot of concentraition on her part but that just meant it was an exercise for the both of them.

Gohan screamed out as she tightened the binds again.

This was the twelfth time they'd been through this exercise. Each time he lasted longer and longer before she had to release him instead of squeezing him to death. It was either that or he switched to Super Saiyan 2 and threw them off himself. Either way it meant he lost that round. It was about control at the right moment...not about how strong he was.

She could feel her strength starting to give, could see the fact that her Lunar Rings were about to break. Her eyes widened. Twelfth time the charm apparently. But the his hair flickered out to black and he fell to his knees. Annya instantly released them and let the energy disappate. If she told him how close he'd gotten he would have probably felt worse about it. Best just pretend otherwise.

"Come on, it's lunch time," Annya annouced.

Gohan looked up at her as he moved from his knees. "I'll...beat you next time."

"I've got no doubt that you will," Annya replied honestly. "But before we do that...lets make sure you didn't bruise yourself too far down and regain our energy okay?"

Great, another day break. Gohan wanted to protest but as he looked at her, he saw that her hair was dark red to the point that it barely looked auburn. Which meant that she was nearing the end of her energy. Just like he was. That just meant he was getting close. But he couldn't know for sure unless they were both at their relatively normal level.

Their meal was spent in silence. It was plain as neither of them wanted to cook beyond a quick ki blast. It had been a while since Gohan had over roasted his own meat so he could actually taste the natural flavors. And like all the times before, Annya controlled the portions so they didn't gorge themselves despite the fact that they could both use the energy. One of these days he was just going to have to get to the cabnet before her and pick out what he wanted to eat. He knew that if he wanted to he could over power her to get his way but...he had asked for her help. And everything she'd done so far had been a way to help him. Putting him on this less food "diet" might have just been another part of the training.

Gohan patted his stomach as he leaned back, his legs folded before him as he leaned his weight on his other available arms. While it wasn't a regular home cooked meal, any food at that point hit the spot.

"So what now?" Gohan asked.

Annya looked at him from her spot on the floor in front of him, "Now, we get that hair of yours under control. It's touching your butt."

Gohan laughed, "Yeah, it is getting out of control."

Clearing took next to no time as they only used plates to hold the food so nothing actually touched the floor. Even with their sparse use of plates the sink looked pretty full. They both stood there for a moment, looking at it. Neither of them liked doing dishes but...one of them was going to have to give in eventually. More than likely the chore would be split.

After the moment of wondering about the dishes, Gohan and Annya got to work on cutting his hair. Of course, as Annya never had to cut hair before the job ended up having to be done in stages. He cut off the majority of it himself and explained the that goal was to get the back even so it didn't pass the nape of his neck. She wasn't as quick as his Dad or his Mom but at least he didn't come out with anything uneven.

Gohan shook his head as he brushed some of the hair off of his shoulders, standing up. "That's better. My head feels ten times lighter."

"It looks ten times lighter," Annya commented with a hint of amusement as she stared down at the mass of hair. "That might make a good pillow. Or should we save it and give it to a weaver when we get out of here?"

"Why a weaver?" Gohan asked with interest.

"So we can start to make you life sized teddy bear."

Gohan smiled and chuckled. "Why would I need that when you volenteer so much?"

"Cause I'm pretty sure that Videl wouldn't like it if she walked in one night and saw that," Annya said with a short laugh of her own, which almost resemembled a huff.

Gohan nodded quietly as he stared down at the hair. He'd started to do it again. He had started to narrow his focus down to his current enviroment and forget about everything else. Just like he'd done on the space trip that he'd been partially forced on. Thankfully Annya like calling him out on it. Even if she didn't always realize she was doing it.

"I'm going to shower then heat up the bath, take the rest of the day as you want," Annya said as she excused herself.

Gohan got to work on cleaning his fallen hair up. he was about to throw it away...until he realized she made a pretty good point. The idea of using it as a teddy bear for him to hold was embarrassing but his hair probably could have been used to make something he couldn't break easily. And that would no doubt come in handy. Although he couldn't help the thought that being able to hold onto another warm body instead of his own hair would always be the better experience. But he tried to stuff that thought away because it definately wasn't very helpful.

When he heard the water going, Gohan started to creep to the bathing chamber. He put his ear against the door to try and see how much noise he could hear through it. And when he realized that the water was going full blast, he grinned. Calmly Gohan walked over to the food room and pulled out a few things more for him to eat. Nothing that he had to cook of course because that would have made a scent waft through the area. But there were a few extra cans (which he crushed down as far as he could without making too much noise so he could hide them in their stack) emptied and more than a few packages of other such preserved food.

Then, after a quick change into a basic under outfit because his Gi was down right disgusting at this point, Gohan decided a nap sounded like the best thing. He set the alarm for an hour so he didn't over sleep. The bed was soft and comfortable underneath him when he laid down. With a full stomach and a low energy tank, Gohan drifted right to sleep with his tail curved over his hip and up his chest.

The alarm rang out an hour later, waking up our young half saiyan almost instantly. Gohan opened his eyes and looked about, using his other senses to make sure that everything else was fine as he shut off the alarm. He knew it was a testimate to all the things they'd been doing so far that he hadn't smashed the annoying thing when it had first starting going off.

"Annya?" He called out as he sat up in the bed.

No answer.

Blinking, Gohan got up off of the bed and started to look around the place. She wasn't in the kitchen or the food room, she wasn't in the bed room or the sitting and dinning area, but he could still feel her energy close. Which meant that she was still in the bathroom. But her energy was so weak...

Carefully, Gohan opened the bathing room's door and poked his head in. She wasn't at the showering area so he pushed the door open some more. There, sitting in the hottube sized bath, was the person he'd been looking for. Her head was leaned against one of her outstretched arms as she napped in the hot water. Gohan gulped when he realized that she didn't even have a towel on.

He went to close the door before he heard her grumble in her sleep. The water sloshed a little. And then a little more. If she moved too much, Gohan knew she was going to end up falling in all the way. Even if she didn't drown she was going to wake up in a bad mood. And the last thing he needed was a trainer in a bad mood.

Forcing down what she would probably consider his silly human inhibitions, Gohan opened the door once more and walked in. The blush on his face had nothing to do with the fact that the room was practically a sauna at this point. And try as he might his eyes seemed to have an eye of their own as he picked her up. it was awkward trying to find a place to put his hands to pick her up with. And it was even more awkward when she didn't wake up.

She must have really been tired.

Gohan gulped as he closed his eyes, carrying her to the bed from memory. He put her into the bed and pulled up the covers as quickly as he could before racing out of the room. Gohan hid in the bathroom for a moment as he tried to justify why he'd just invaded her privacy like that. The fact that she probably wouldn't have cared what state he saw her in was the only thing that let him move her with a clear conscious. And the fact that she'd practically done the same for him when he passed out eased his guilt. It wasn't like he was trying to be a perverted peeping tom after all...he was just trying to make sure she didn't wake up grouchy. Telling all this technical stuff to his hormones, however, didn't seem to be helping.

Three months and a week in...a lot more time to go.

This was going to be a lot harder than he thought.


	6. Chapter 6

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter Six**_

A month had gone by since Gohan had overcome her Lunar Rings. But like the three months before that, it hadn't been that easy. Between the both of them, Gohan had pushed himself to the point he passed out without powering up even once. Which meant that sometimes he'd gone days without a proper sleep. And like before she'd limited his food. The only time he'd snuck more during the whole of his training was when she'd fallen asleep in the bath a month ago. He still felt a little guilty over that but not enough to confess to it.

Especially since she was currently lashing his back as he did push ups on the floor. His hands were wrapped around wooden bowls, that while they would hold his weight they would break if his grip on them changed. He winced everytime the energy whip fell down onto his back. His shirt was long since made into tatters. All the while his back felt as if he were a human who'd just gotten roadrash from a crash.

He kept trying to tell himself that he'd asked for training to control his strength. But that didn't stop him from wanting to grab that blasted whip of hers (even if it was energy) and rip it out of her hands. Maybe show her what it felt like.

"You're not doing the best you can," Annya spoke out stoicly.

Gohan grunted as he pushed himself back up and down. Not doing his best? Well it was hard when every time he came back up a bit more of his skin was bruised!

"Give me a break," He said in a harsh whisper. "We've been doing this all day!"

Annya didn't seem to like the back sass. Her whip came down on the base of his tail. the bowls shattered under his hands. He fell to the floor on his hands and knees as he road out the pain. Glaring at Annya didn't seem to make her understand the fact that he was sick of the abuse becase she came over and kicked him in the stomach.

Gohan growled deep in his throat. He would have surprised himself by the sound if he wasn't too busy bringing her down on the ground with him by the offending leg. Gohan hovered over her and breathed hard as he trapped her arms and legs. He even managed to tie her tail up with his own.

"Stop that," He said in a raspy voice from behind her.

Strangely she smiled, a bit of pride shining through. It was distracting.

"Now you're getting it," she said with the same amount of pride. "That might have left a bruise on a human...but you're getting so much better at controlling your reactions."

Gohan let go of her and moved back.

"Wait, so you were whipping me this whole time just to get this reaction?"

Annya nodded as she got up to face him.

"So does that mean I'm done with the bowls?"

"Not on your life. Go get another set."

Gohan groaned but did as he was told.

* * *

After she'd called it quits for the day, she'd forced him to sit in the middle of the room why she went to fetch something. The only thing that stopped him from going straight to the bath was the fact that she came right back out with a jar that had the red plus on it. Gohan bent forward and kept his hands on his knees as Annya paid attention to his back. She had a cloth in her hand that had the tip covered in some type of cream as she dabbed at the bruises and the burn marks she had made.

"So," Gohan started in a joking tone weekly, "think Dad is driving Vegeta up the wall looking for you yet?"

Annya snorted under her breath as she rubbed the cream into his bare back. "Your father requires more attention to keep him happy than any Saiyan has the right to demand."

Well...so much for joking.

"It's funny. Normally he's pretty content," Gohan winced as she touched a spot that had been hit multiple times. "I mean as long as he's able to go out and wonder the mountains and has plenty of food...then again, that's just what it seemed like to me growing up."

"Oh, he wants a lot more than that...sometimes I wonder if he broke his brain when he fell as a baby. When he pins me down there's more poking me than his elbow."

Gohan could feel his face heating up. There were times when Annya's honesty was a little much sometimes. It didn't matter if he understood that his father...umm...liked her like that, hearing it was still embarrassing. It was like his father was more of a teenage boy than he was sometimes!

"Speaking of..." Annya started up in a soft voice, "don't worry about your reaction in a second, alright?"

"What rea-" Gohan stopped himself with wide eyes.

He could feel her fingers working the cream into the mark just above his tail. Which meant that she was pressing all the nerve bundles in that area. It sent shivers down and up his spine. And it started a chain reaction. Gohan's throat seemed suddenly dry as his eyes shot downwards. It wasn't just chills that were on the rise as she worked the cream into his skin. It was worse because despite the fact that she couldn't see over his back, he knew that she knew his body was forcing an erection on him.

His hands gripped onto his knees tighter as he shut his eyes, trying to find a way to turn invisible.

* * *

He could feel the muscles in his body bunch up. His stomach twisted and turned as he grunted. He could feel the effects of the full moon replacement well above his head. And it felt great. Gohan tossed his head back as the flood gate finally released. And a feeling of pleasure rippled through his body as the transformation took place.

Hair sprouted in all directions as his body grew into gigantic proportions. His face cracked and popped as a snout formed and his ears pointed out to the side. Fangs the size of people filled his mouth as the transformation started to finish up. The uniform that Annya had him put on stretched with his form but if he'd been thinking about it, he'd dislike how it rubbed against his fur. But he wasn't thinking. Not really.

Beams of energy spilled from his mouth and he stopped about in the white zone. He was far away from their living quarters, a move that they'd both done to help prevent it's distruction. But this didn't seem to help him as he looked around for something to destroy. Large red eyes shot back and forth, trying to find something but there really wasn't anything.

Ice started to creep up on him and he kicked his monsterous sized legs. It shattered into sparks of fire as the gravity and pressure of the area increased. Over and over he fought things that weren't really there. Blast after blast from his mouth and roar after roar. Until finally he collapsed onto hs feet and knuckles, looking around. A confused expression spread over his face as he stuck his nose into the air.

He couldn't smell anything. And he couldn't hear anything. There was nothing around him. Gohan, in his large Ape like form with a tail the size of a train, hunched down and tried to smell the ground. Nothing but his own scent. He looked up and the only thing other than all the white was the ball up in the air. It was like the moon...but at the same time it wasn't.

Gohan let out a roar that could be heard from all over as the Moon-Energy faded out. And the smaller he got, the more human looking he got, the more the roar sounded like a grutteral scream.

* * *

Gohan limped into the sitting area. His energy was completely gone. What he hadn't spent as a giant ape with a tail he'd used up getting back to the only other living person in the area. And the food...couldn't forget about the food. He sank down onto the floor and spread out as he tried to get his muscles to stop cramping up. As it was he could have almost fallen asleep right there or then, but the smell of something too tantalizing kept him awake.

Annya walked out with what looked to be the largest sandwhich he'd ever seen. But it wasn't the sandwhich he was smelling...it was something else.

"Hey, you smell..." He stopped and looked at the sandwhich as his stomach grumbled. "Never mind, can I have that?"

The redhead laughed as she squated down beside him. She helped Gohan up before handing him the sandwhich. Which was gone nearly one minute later, give or take a few seconds. But the smell was still there and it made his mouth water. The lights clicked on in his brain as he stared at Annya.

"But there's not a moon," he said to himself in confusion. "Annya...why are you in heat?"

Annya leveled him a stare. "We have six months left to train you Gohan. And honestly I've ran out of any other ideas of how to train you. This was my last idea."

"But I thought I was trying to train my Oozaru form?" Gohan asked nervously as he stared at her.

"We are. Think of this as just an addition."

"...so where's the blutz ball?" He definately did not want to randomly transform and break the living quarters.

"I hid it above the roof and made a box around it with all the stuff you've broken so neither of us can see it."

"Oh," Gohan gulped. "So you're going to stay in heat for the entire six months?"

Annya nodded with a serious look on her face. "And the goal of these six months is to keep doing everyday things...repeat all the steps we've done so far...all without you having sex with me."

He nearly choked on air at the very idea.

"Oh don't give me that look. It is going to cross your mind the stronger this heat gets. It's already crossing my mind," Annya told him, her honesty making him blush. "The trick is to say no...and mean no to yourself and to me. Because from this point on, I'm going to try and make you break the goal. I'm going to say and do things on purpose to try and make your will break."

The smirk on her face didn't bode well for him.

"Hold on to your reasons for doing this Gohan," Annya said in a devilish whisper. "Because I'm going to make it as hard for you as I can...but first...we'll have to work you up to it."

* * *

Three months...three fucking months and he still had three more to go. He could barely take it anymore. Watching her, smelling her, he could practically taste her in the air! He could feel his instincts roar inside of his head night and day. He could feel his blood rushing through his vains. And every time he tried to picture Videl's face all he could see was the one they'd last parted with. Fear. Hate.

"AAAAAAAAHHH!"

Gohan screamed as he released all of his energy up into the sky. His feet rose off of the ground, his body cramped up, but he could feel that he was so close. He had to do it, he needed to do it. He fell to his knees, panting hard as his hair darted between golden and black. He still had energy, he could still push himself more. He didn't care that he wasn't fighting an actual enemy. All he knew was that he couldn't go back to the area with enough energy to care.

He forced himself to stand despite how sluggish his body felt. His arms were at his side like dead weights as he gripped for the control to stay in his Super Saiyan form. It was easier to wear out his body when he was in a transform state after all.

But then when he was on the verge of giving one last blast a go, his nose practically twitched. He could smell her, she was so close. Teal eyes snapped around as he panted, slumping over in his spot. And then he could feel her. She hovered behind him. Her breath sent shivers down his spine as he tried to get away. With his lack of energy, Gohan couldn't move away before he felt her fingers dancing up his side. And yet she didn't press herself up against his back. She was teasing him and he fucking hated that he liked it too much.

His hair slipped back to black as he sunk to his hands and knees. His head felt like there was a balloon filling it as he breathed in through his mouth. He could taste her on his tongue. It tasted primal...heavy...heady...needy.

"Why ...are..you," Gohan let out in shakey voice as he gripped his hands into fists, "doing...this?"

"Because you asked me to," Annya whispered into his ear from beside him.

He turned to look at her. Her hair seemed wild around her face, bright copper, and her eyes were narrowed ever so slightly. A challange, one he really wanted to take up. And at the same time he felt wrong for wanting to do that. Dirty. He clung to the feeling of being dirty.

"You practically _begged_ me to...on your hands and knees," she continued to tormant him with her heat and her voice. "You look so ready to give in...and we've barely even begun."

With a laugh she was off. And Gohan slammed his fists into the ground, shaking the area. Videl. He was doing this for Videl.

* * *

Gohan detangled himself as he sat up, the sheets falling in an odd pattern over his knees. He'd learned early on to go to bed fully clothed because as soon as she got done doing whatever she did in the bathroom for hours (he really...really did not want to think about that) she'd always sneak into the bed with him. So more and more often he'd been waking up with his nose burried in Annya's neck and his hands somewhere on his body. Usually somewhere he could feel a post. And he figured out that freaking out didn't help the situation, she usually turned it against him. This morning was no different. Except for the fact that Annya was still asleep.

Though he could still smell her, could still feel her, it wasn't _as_ bad on his nerves. Oh, not that any of the levels went down mind you. It was just that she wasn't awake to actually torment him about it.

"Hey, wake up now," Gohan said in a calm, quiet voice.

Annya's eyes snapped open as she yawned.

"Good awake time," Annya told him as she sat up. "Two more months to go..."

Gohan groaned and caught his head with his hands. "Do we have to keep...doing this?"

"Yes. I'm using this to harden you Gohan. Fire and Ice are used for forge the strongest blades. My heat and your control."

"Can you stop with the innuendos?" Gohan asked with narrowed eyes when he turned his head to look at her.

Annya looked at him for a moment and blinked. She hadn't meant for that to be an innuendos. He seemed to be at his wits end, thread bare and ready to rip. They still had months to go. Was she pushing his control too much? Was his human side not tempering out his saiyan blood and instincts as much as she thought? Whatever it was, she needed to find a way to make him push through it. Otherwise he'd never be satisfied with her work. And he probably would come out in worse shape than he went in as - mentally at least. Physically he was right on track.

"Gohan, what _do_ you know about your saiyan instincts?" Annya ventured, knowing it was't a topic they'd been able to talk about at length.

"I know that they were alright until you girls came around," Gohan said as he put his head back between his knees.

Annya scooted closer to him and made him look at her by default. After all he knew better than to close his eyes when she was determined. She tended to do things that made him want to snap at her.

"They were there Gohan, just dormant."

"I know," he replied with a frown. "And now it's like Vegeta, my dad and I aren't even ourselves anymore."

"You're still yourselves, Gohan. You just have an extra... thought processes that was meant to keep you alive with the purpose to pass on your genetics."

"That's a nice way to put it," oh boy he was grumpy.

"It's the truth."

"Yeah, I know. I studied this in biology and psychology," he sighed, unhappy about it all. "While it makes sense for animals in the wild as it's a way to propagate the next generation it seems to waste time at beings of our level."

"I've had a hypothesis that it's because we have a transformed bestial state. And the only way I've been able to test it so far is by comparing the Saiyans with the Tuffles-"

Gohan broke her off, "Wait. Why?"

Annya blinked. Oh yeah, he didn't know.

"The bastards' physiology is similar to that of a Saiyan. The key differences are that they were physically smaller and fragile when you compare them to Saiyans and that they had no transformation capability. But they also had no drive to improve their physical strength, which I can not figure out a difference for. Overall, however, they showed no where near the level of instinct or agression that we have but they have more desire for intelectual designs. I personally think we sprouted from a common ancestor but that line of thinking tends to be considered blasphemist thinking."

"That sounds like Divergent Evolution," Gohan mumbled.

"Exactly. But the research was stopped by supremists. So as of now it's just a untestable hypothesis."

Gohan was actually rather surprised and pleased by the fact that they were having a conversation which didn't include her licking him. It was much less embarrassing this way.

"Why not?" Then the idea hit him. "Oh..sorry...yeah, I forgot."

The planet and been destroyed, and with that any fossil record that may have existed in such a harsh climate. Annya shrugged as she tried not to think about it.

"Anyways - your instincts are easy to control when you understand where each urge comes from. And as I was saying there are really only two reasons that are very similar to any another known species. It all comes back to staying or feeling Alive or reproducing."

"So trying to feed you and Leta is trying to ensure reproduction," Gohan replied thoughtfully.

"Yes. As is the instinct that Leta and I have for...admiring strength."

Gohan snorted. Admiring was a very nice way to put it. Pined over was better. But then again that might have just been the fact that he was having to deal with her (who had admited to destroying the filter she used on the normal full moons for the purposes of training him) for the last three months while she was in heat.

"Okay, what about the desire to fight?"

"To feel alive. Also to grow stronger so death doesn't catch up to you as quickly. There's also the componant that the strongest male gets the strongest female, which is always the prefered instinctual choice."

"But you're the strongest female," Gohan said quietly. "And Vegeta doesn't fight over you."

"Not when he has Leta to mate with. But his behavior, even if he won't understand it, is still indicative of a male who is trying to horde females for breeding purposes. Remember back at the tournement in the back of the hover cart?" Gohan nodded at Annya's question. "He was upset when you or Goku would try to pass us food directly...he was being possessive over us as females since he hadn't declared for a mate yet. When Leta and he did finally mate his possesiveness over me calmed down."

"Is that why you don't want to marry dad?"

Annya shrugged as she leaned back on the bed.

"It could be a part of it. But there are still social componates to consider. Your father wants someone to fill a void he just realized he had never completely filled. And I'm just...complicated. I've had the strongest zeyato I could achieve for my age and status...if I'm going to mate again I want it to be because I say so and not anyone else."

Gohan smiled as he laid down beside her. "I think I know the feeling."


	7. Chapter 7

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 7**_

_**Meanwhile at the Brief's house...**_

With a yawn, Leta rose from her bed and stretched, popping her back a bit. With another yawn, she rubbed her face as she walked to the bathroom across the hall. Running a hand through her black mane, she flipped the light on and leaned against the counter. As her eyes adjusted, her slept in face came into focus. Trailing her fingers around the contours of her face, she sighed.

"Girl, we've got work to do," She turned on the faucet. "Pass me the paint and glue," Filling her cupped hands with water, she splashed her face. "Perfect isn't easy," With a quick scratch, her ebony locks fell into place. "But it's me!"

"When one knows the world is watching, one does what one must!" Leta rolled her eyes as she straightened her top and pants. "Some minor adjustments darling," She put on her customary black corset and matching high heeled boots. "Not for my vanity, but for humanity."

Quickly leaving her room, she began her trip to the dining room, taking the stairs one at a time, a strut in her step. "Each little step a pose, see how the breeding shows," A flick of her tail as she rounded the corner at the bottom. "Sometimes it's too much for even me!" She leaned against the wall, a smug smirk on her face. "But when the world says 'yes' who am I to say 'no'?"

She pushed herself off the wall and continued on, one hand on her hip as she strutted down the hall. "Don't ask a mutt to strut like a show girl. No girl, you need a pro!"

Leta strutted into the dining area, hands on hips and smirk on place. Goku, Vegeta, Trunks and Goten were sitting at the food belt already, chowing down. Bulma sat at a nearby table, reading over her latest research notes as she ate her own breakfast. "Not a flea or a flaw," She twirled a lock of her hair around a finger. "Take a look at that paw," She flashed Goku her hand as she walked by. "Perfection becomes me, nest ce pas?" She shrugged as if it were a fact.

"Unrivaled, unruffled," She fluffed her hair. "I'm beauty unleashed!" She walked around to the other side of the belt, past Goten and Trunks. "Jaws Drop, Hearts stop! So classic and classy, we're not talking Lassie!"

"Though many covet my bone and bowl, you're barking up the wrong tree!" She came to a stop next to Vegeta. "You pretty runts all over the city," She ran her fingers through his hair. "I have your hearts and you have my pity!" She gripped his scalp as she flicked her tail against his face. Letting go, she wandered over towards her seat. "Pretty is nice but still it's just pretty!"

"Perfect, my dears," she dropped into her seat, propping her legs up against the belt. "Is me!"

There was a grin on Goku's face as he looked at Leta, "That was nice Leta. The song sounds familiar though..."

Vegeta grunted, angry over the fact that she'd attempted to mess up his hair before flicking him with her tail. Like he was some common saiyan who wanted to rut with her!

"Huh, wait...what?" Leta asked as she blinked from her spot in the chair. "What song?"

Leta looked at them confused.

"I wanna sing too!" Goten cheered.

"Something's wrong." Trunks looked around, "Where did that music come from?"

"Wait, you heard it to?" Leta asked with a determined look. "I thought I was just imagin-...wait, I was singing to it?"

"Yup! You have a nice voice." Goku nodded with a smile.

"Thank you," the female saiyan didn't seem nearly as disturbed as Vegeta.

Before anyone else could express their concerns, music began to flow from the hallway.

"Shouldn't be ashamed or hide it." The deep voice of King Vegeta filtered in under the music, his voice sounding rather serious.

"I love you in the most heterosexual way." Reeking of nonchalance, the alto voice of Bardock filled in as both men rounded the corner of the door and the music came to an abrupt stop.

Stunned silence.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" Vegeta roared.

"Shananagans." Leta narrowed her eyes.

"What the hell is Shanagans woman?"

"Bromance." Leta scowled, ashamed that Vegeta didn't know that. "Like what you have with Goku."

"I have nothing with that fool," Vegeta said, his hand whipping out to point at Goku.

"You guys were singing… Leta was singing…" Goku pondered, "Does that mean Vegeta and I are gonna too?"

"HELL NO!" Guess where that came from? If you guessed Vegeta, you'd be right.

"What we need to figure out what this is." Bulma pointed out, standing from her seat. "Do any of you feel different?"

"No," Goku was the first to answer from his spot on the floor. "Maybe it was just some trick? I mean we haven't seen Baba in a while...she could be using some of her magic to have a laugh."

"Who? Magic?" Leta asked quickly, panic slowly appearing in her voice.

"Baba?" Bulma asked before the light bulb seemed to go off. "Oh man I haven't seen her in years! Not since Vegeta came to Earth."

"Well, she brought me from Other World during the tournament." Goku pondered, "I don't think it's her."

"Why not? You just thought it was." Bulma frowned.

"Her crystal ball broke back when Vegeta and I fought the first time, she can't see things in it anymore." Goku crossed his arms, "She'd be here herself if it was her."

"Then what is causing this infernal mess?" Vegeta steamed.

Leta looked around, suddenly aware of a vacancy. "Where's Annya?"

"I dunno," Goku answered with a shrug and a frown. "She and Gohan haven't been here since yesterday...and I can't feel their energy. But I'm sure they're still safe."

Leta, pale faced, nearly jumped across the table. "Goku! Where are the twins?"

"Stop fretting women. They're east of here, just a few miles outside of this blasted town," Vegeta said with a scowl. "If you learned to sense energies you'd know that."

Without a glance towards anyone, Leta was off like a shot. Out the door and half way there before most could blink.

* * *

Goten laughed as he raced after Trunks. The two of them had taken the time while the adults were worried about what was going to go out among the camp of saiyans and see how they amused themselves. So far they'd found at least three fitting pits, an area that looked like there was enough liquid to drown an elephant, a gambling ring, and a lot of people just laughing and telling stories about battles they'd been in. And everywhere they went people stopped and looked at them, some even bowing or nodding in respect to the two young saiyans.

"I'm gonna be a mighty king," Trunks started up in song with a big smile on his face. "So enemies beware."

"Well, I've never seen a saiyan with quite so purple hair," Goten commented from his side innocently.

Trunks rolled his eyes as he turned to head home. "I'm gonna be the main event, like no king was before." He nodded before he took to the air. "I'm brushing on looking down, I'm working on my roar!"

Goten followed, coming to a sudden stop when Trunks turned around and roared at him. "Not real scary yet."

Trunks shrugged, taking off towards home. "I just can't wait to be king!"

"No one saying, 'Do this'," Goten said, catching the enthusiasm in Trunks' voice as they flew through west city at a leisurely pace.

"No one saying, 'Be there'," Trunks matched him.

"No one saying 'stop that'!" Goten twirled.

"No one saying 'see here'!" Trunks smiled.

"Free to run around all day!" Goten zig zagged through the air.

"Free to do it all my way!" Trunks skidded to a halt, "I just can't wait to be king!"

The window in front of him, cracked as it was, carried a tune to the little saiyans. Leta was in side, holding Vegeta Jr. with Reena laying on her bed sound asleep.

He could hear music coming from inside, a slow tune almost like a lullaby. Leta's soft voice carrying through the window, he and Goten paused to listen.

"Hush now, young Kem Kov," She rubbed the fussy boys back. "Let your dreams take wing, one day when you're big and strong you will be a king." She pet his hair as he continued to sniffle and whimper. "I was hunted, persecuted, left out there with no defense." She adjusted her hold on him, bringing him to sit in her lap. "When I think of what that brute did, I get a little tense." Her eyes narrowed.

She smiled as she leaned over to nuzzle her sons hair. "But I dream a dream so lovely, it brings shivers to my spine. It sooths my inner monkey and leaves me feeling so divine."

"The sound of Frieza's dying gasp!" She smiled, "His soldiers squealing in my grasp." She clenched her fist lighting over Vegeta Jr.s own. "His empire's slow demise! That's my lullaby!"

Standing, she adjusted so that the transfixed baby lay against her chest. "The melody of angry growls, the counterpoint of painful howls." She slowly walked around the room, petting his hair. "A symphony of death, oh my! That's my lullaby!"

With a soft smile, Leta lifted her son above her head. "The prince is lost, but Leta's still around to love this little lad." Vegeta Jr. giggled, his little hands grasping at chunks of her hair. "As he learns to be a ruler, the greatest fighter in the land!"

Goten glanced at Trunks, not liking the lullaby he was hearing. Trunks was transfixed, but Goten wasn't sure why.

"The pounding of the drums of war," Leta rocked her son, "the thrill of Oozaru's mighty roar!"

"Let's go Goten." Trunks said, his tone neutral.

"But," Goten tried to protest because he really liked the song,"...okay."

* * *

"What are you two doing here?" Piccolo asked, looking down at the two Halflings before him.

"We want you to train us," Trunks spoke up with his arms crossed as he stared up at the very tall namekian.

Piccolo frowned, "Why? You should train with your fathers."

"Our dads are busy," Goten said with a smile as he tilted his head. "Besides...you trained my big brother!"

"Gohan kicks ass." Trunks pointed out, "We want to too."

Piccolo sighed, resisting the urge to rub the bridge of his nose. He clenched his mouth shut, sweat building on his temple. He was not going to sing...he was not going to sing...

"Why do we want to kick ass?" Goten asked as he blinked.

"Because," Trunks said as he looked up at Piccolo.

Piccolo let out a deep breath, "So you want to be heroes kids?"

Oh damn, he'd lost.

"Well, whoop de doo. I've been around the block before with block heads just like you." He frowned.

Goten and Trunks exchanged looks, suddenly uncertain this was a good idea.

"I've been out to pasture boys, my ambition gone." He shrugged. "Content to spend lazy days visiting Gohan."

Goten smiled.

"But you need an adviser," funny, neither boy knew that Piccolo could sing. "A fighter but wiser. A good strategizer."

And both Trunks and Goten started to whistle to the music that only the three of them could hear.

"Oh there goes my ears," the namekian winced.

* * *

_**Back in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber...**_

Gohan looked at Annya nervously. Not for his own safety of course but for hers. He'd given the Oozaru form a few more goes, at least once every twenty-four hours for five hours at a time, but he still wasn't confident in his control. Sure he could remember things he'd done and he was pretty sure he was able to start thinking. He could even remember moving without wanting to destroy something. But he still felt like it was too soon.

"I don't want you to get hurt," Gohan said as he looked down at the stubborn women.

"Gohan, for the last time. You will not hurt me," Annya replied. "And we don't have much time left...the clock has almost run out."

The thing that she wasn't adding was he wouldn't hurt her so long as she stayed in her untransformed form. Otherwise there was a good chance she'd be in for a bit of a rape if he really wasn't sure over his control.

Gohan shook his head, "We're not doing this."

Annya sighed and walked closer to him, keeping eye contact. "When you're afraid of something you surrender your control over to it. You shouldn't have to fear any part of yourself Gohan."

"How do you...how do you have so much faith in yourself?"

There was that shy boy. She'd been wondering if he'd started to die off. Not that he wasn't the most outgoing person she'd known, nor the most confident, but he'd been improving over this last year.

"I give in to what I want. But only when I want. And for an amount I want. If you deny yourself everything keeping control is harder because of temptation," she spoke honestly. "Like if I want something to eat, then I'll eat. If I want to blow energy, then I'll go blow energy. But when I don't want to do something that my body is telling me to do...then I won't. I'll find something to tide myself over with - like when Leta and I would go for the-"

She stopped when Gohan kisssed her cheek before looking up at the blutz ball.

Annya's eyes widened at that as her mouth opened up. That...wasn't an act of lust as her heat would normally dictate. And it was a very human action. The stunned saiyan female watched as he quickly transformed under the energy of the blutz fears seemed to be a little justified because when he did there seemed to be a bit of anger in his movements. He shot out a beam of energy into the sky.

Then when he looked down at her she understood why. It didn't matter that she wasn't transformed. His mind was still on the idea that she was a female of his species. And she was in heat.

"Shit."

Annya moved backwards as quickly as she could manage, her hair flying over her shoulder as she tried to avoid his surprisingly quick hands. How the bestial mind of his thought he was going to fit into something that wasn't even the size of his hand she had no idea. And she didn't care to find out. She brought whips out of all her fingertips, a technique she called Zero Whips, and tried to restrain his hands. It worked for a moment as it started to sear his fur. She was even sure that from the blood that dripped down she'd started to atomize his skin. But then he roared..

And powered up.

Golden fur illuminated the area more than anything else could. His eyes went white and she could feel the panic rise. Oozaru form multiplied the base by at least ten...and if the super saiyan form multiplied the any existing power by ten...

Annya cursed in just about every langauge she knew as he broke free from her zero whips. There was a deep throaty laugh as he grabbed for her. This time he was too quick. And his golden fist clenched around her entire body. If she felt small next to him when he was in his regular form, she felt minuscule now. She could feel herself rise up into the air as she tried to find a way to squeeze herself out of his hold. She knew she was facing the blutz ball but only because she could feel it against her skin as her eyes were closed. She could feel his massive fangs behind her just like she could smell his breath. Spittle was to be the new seasoning for her hair as he pushed his mussel into her red locks. He was practically pressing her right up against it. Which meant he knew exactly what it did. And exactly what it would do to her. It meant he still had some of his intelligence in there.

"Gohan," Annya breathed out and felt him growl as much as she heard him. "Gohan. Fight it. Think through this. You don't want this. I don't want this. Think Gohan, Think."

The grip on her tightened. He was listening. That was good.

"Please Gohan. Please think about this," This was probably the 5th time in her life she had ever used that word.

Annya let out a breath of relief when the grip around her completely opened up to drop her. She caught herself in mid air before going to the ground. She kept her eyes shut still. There was no way she was going to chance a transformation around him now. Not when he seemed to actually have a molicule of control over himself. But even with her rudementary energy sensing skills, Annya could feel him wavering back and forth. She could the rumble of his growl. She could hear the thump of his tail. And she could practically feel how much it was hurting him to fight through the haze.

And then his energy spiked up so high that it was hard to breath. So very high.

She could hear bones break and reform. She could hear the sounds of pain. And as she opened her eyes she watched as he shrunk down. Which she would have thought would have been impossible before. The Blutz ball was still in the sky (not that she looked at it of course, she could merely feel it). But there he was shrinking...Except his hair was growing longer, humanoid hair that is. And as his fur got shorter it turned auburn. Then red. And he stood before her for a moment in a cross between a red ape like creature and a man, but more man. Annya's mouth fell open in shock.

"I won't."

The power and confidence behind that voice sent shivers down her spine.


	8. Chapter 8

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 8**_

"For a long time we've been marching off to battle." King Vegeta's voice boomed.

Bardock leaned forward, elbows resting on his legs, head turned towards his son. "In our thundering herd we feel a lot like cattle." He shrugged. "Like the pounding beat, our aching feet aren't easy to ignore!"

"Hey! Think of instead a girl worth fighting for!" Goku smiled.

"Huh?" Gohan expressed his confusion, having just arrived in the front yard.

"That's what I said! A girl worth fighting for!" Goku nodded excitedly.

King Vegeta closed his eyes in rememberance, "I want her paler than the moon. With eyes that shine like stars."

"My girl will marvel at my strength," Bardock smirked, "and adore my battle scars."

"I couldn't care less what she wears or what she looks like." Vegeta grunted.

"It all depends on what she cooks!" Goku added with a dreamy smile.

Bardock looked over to Gohan and nodded to him in greeting. "I bet the local girls thought you were quite the charmer," then he pointed to himself with his smirk turning into something else. "And I bet they love a man in armor."

"So what do we want?" King Vegeta bellowed.

"A girl worth fighting for!" Goku, Bardock and even Vegeta agreed.

King Vegeta smirked, "My lady will think I have no faults."

"That I'm a major find." Bardock interlocked his fingers behind his head with a cocky smirk.

"How about a girl who's got a brain, who always speaks her mind?" Gohan glanced around nervously.

The assembled men stared at him, "Nah!"

Bardock stood up, fists on his hips. "My manly ways and turn of phrase are sure to thrill her!"

King Vegeta shook his head, "He thinks he's such a lady killer."

Arms crossed, Vegeta snorted. "I have a woman at home who's unlike any other."

"Yeah!" Leta leaned out the front window of the house, "The only girl who'd love him is his mother!" She then slammed the window shut.

The guys around him laughed, leaving Vegeta to stew as he glared up at where the window had been closed. Annya stood in the window, but he wasn't focused on her. He was focused on the dark haired one beside her who was sticking her tongue out at him.

"But when we come home in victory," Bardock sang.

"They'll line up at the door?" Goku finished up that thought with a hopeful look.

"So what do we want men?" King Vegeta rallied.

"A girl worth fighting for!" All but Vegeta cheered.

* * *

Annya stared at the window. Below in the yard was the group of saiyan men who, wondrously, lead most of the other saiyans. And among them was the person who was giving her the hardest time currently figuring out. Just thinking about it made something inside of her feel like it was rising. Annya closed her dark eyes tightly. No. No. And no. She was not going to be infected with this tom foolery like all the rest!

"They're out there, singing about women." Leta rolled her eyes.

"Why am I not surprised," Bulma smiled as she shook her head.

"No, you don't get it… Even Goku is!" Leta announced scandalously.

"It's foolish," Annya ground out, clenching her jaw.

No. No. And no.

"Considering what he was singing out there, I think he's forgotten about Annya." Leta pouted.

"Good," oh god her stomach was revolting against her. She felt like she was going to be sick trying to keep her will against whatever hellish thing was making them all sing.

"Don't say that," Leta said as she crossed her arms. "I know you think it's not a good judgment-"

Leta stopped as she looked at Annya who'd clenched her stomach as if she were in pain.

"If there is a prize for rotten judgment," the words came out smoothly despite the fact that Annya had been in a pain a moment ago. "I think I've already won _that_."

Leta glanced at Bulma, both smiling.

"No man is worth the aggravation," she shifted her arms a bit. "That's ancient history. Been there, done that!"

"Who you think you're kidding, he's the Earth and Heaven to you," Leta smirked.

"Try to keep it hidden," Bulma shrugged. "Honey we can see right through you."

"Girl, you can't conceal it, we know how you're feeling! Who you're thinking of!" Bulma and Leta smirked, hands on their hips.

"No chance, No way. I won't say it, no, no," Annya said with her hands on her ears as she walked out of the room.

But the other girls weren't going to let her off the hook that easily and the followed her into the hall way. "You swoon, you sigh. Why deny it? Uh-oh."

Annya dropped her arms in aggravation as she stormed down the hall and to the top of the stairs. "It's too cliche. I won't say I'm in love."

"You keep on denying. Who you are and how you're feeling. Baby, were not buying," Leta taunted.

"Hon, we saw you hit the ceiling. Face it like a grown-up. When you gonna own up," Bulma sung with something akin to a laugh.

"That you got, got, got it bad?" Both Leta and Bulma sung out together.

"No chance, no way. I won't say it, no, no," Annya said as she gripped the metallic part of the railing, crushing it under her hold.

"Give up, give in. Check the grin you're in love," Leta was obviously having more fun with this than either of the other girls.

Anny turned around with a murderous expression, "This scene won't play. I won't say I'm in love."

"You're doin' flips. Read our lips: You're in love," And if to accentuate the words, Leta started to send hand kisses in every direction.

"You're way off base, I won't say it. Get off my case, I won't say it."

"Girl, don't be proud," Bulma said with a sigh. "It's ok you're in love."

Annya jumped off of the stairs to get away from them at that point. She was very sick of this whole singing one's feelings did not sit well with her. She did not like. Nor did she want to ever do this again. Finding a place to hide was the key though. She took to the kitchen in diversion before jumping out of the window.

She leaned against the tile of the roof as soon as she cleared the ridge. "Oh, at least out loud...I won't say I'm in love."

* * *

With a smile and purpose, Leta strode out to the group of male Saiyans on the front lawn, her eyes trained on her prey. Disregarding their stares, she walked right up to Goku and grabbed the front of his gi.

"You'll be coming with me." She smirked.

Goku gave her a puzzled look, but didn't fight when she tugged for him to stand and follow her. "What're we doing?"

Leta tugged him away from the group, her hand still holding the front of his gi. She could feel the confused stares of the King and Gohan, along with the piercing glare belonging to Vegeta. She paused in her step, and glanced over her shoulder at said prince.

"It's time to make you a man." She continued on her way, tugging Goku along behind her.

The only thing holding Vegeta back was Bardock stepping in front of him as Leta took off with Goku.

"Get out of my way," Vegeta snarled.

"Relax. She's just going to go beat him up for a minute," Bardock snorted. "This part I saw. It's just going to be a short training montage."

* * *

In a random open field, Leta stood before an uncertain Goku with a determined look on her face and fists on her hips. "Let's get down to business..to man you up."

Goku scratched the back of his head. "But I don't think I need it."

Before he could react, Leta had smacked him upside the head. "Shut up! You turd!"

Goku pouted, but remained quiet.

"You're a spineless, pale, pathetic grunt." Leta paced, arm crossed. "And you haven't got a clue." She stopped before him, poking his exposed skin with her finger. "Goku, I'll ...make a man... out of you."

In response to the tone of her voice, Goku gulped.


	9. Chapter 9

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter Nine**_

Vegeta grunted to himself as he looked up to the stars. The moon was almost full, enough to transform any saiyan with a tail if they looked at it for a good long while, but not quite there yet. It was just another reminder to his failing. Like the dream he'd just woken up from. He'd hoped that the isolation of the roof and the cool wind against his bare torso would clear his thoughts. But he couldn't get his mind over the nightmare he'd just woken up from. The bed had been trashed of course, and Bulma had been pissed about that but he hadn't cared. The woman could buy a new one and probably have them deliver it to them overnight if she put her harpy of a mouth and mind to it. The nightmare had been far more important. So important that he didn't want to think about it.

He'd been back on Planet Vegeta as a boy. And he'd been walking up to his father. Tall...broad shoulders with the crimson cape of the royal family hanging behind him. He'd reached for his father but the man had swirled the cape out of his reach. And as he turned around, Vegeta looked up into the very pleased look of Goku.

He woke up with his heart pounding and fear gripping him.

Vegeta turned over onto his side as he stared out at Satan city.

"In the dark of the night I was tossing and turning." He snorted, "And the nightmare I had was as bad as can be. It scared me out of my wits, the sight of a fallen prince." He growled, "Then I opened my eyes and my nightmare was me."

He clenched his fists, muscles tense. "I was once the powerful Prince of all Saiyans." He sat up, arms supporting his torso. "Then Frieza showed up and blew it all away." He raised his clenched fist into his line of sight. "I swore to make sure he'd pay, but Kakarot got in my way! Super Saiyan or not I won't be second rate!" He snarled.

"In the dark of the night, I will be training." He stood, arms at his sides. "In the dark of the night, he will be through." Vegeta crossed his arms and smirked. "Revenge will be sweet when he's dead at my feet! In the dark of the night. He'll be gone!"

With almost a grin, Vegeta began to pace. "I can feel that my powers are steadily growing." He scowled, "I could now defeat that bastard Cell." He paused in his pacing, "As the pieces fall into place, I'll see him crawl into place! To that soft hearted waste of space, farewell!"

"In the dark of the night, in the dark of the night!"

Vegeta turned his gaze to the night sky, his glare full of fire. "Now my levels, rise ever higher, let my power shine!" He smirked. "Fight him now and force his surrender…" He paused, face almost breaking into a smile at the thought.

"In the dark of the night, victory's mine!"

* * *

Later that day the group could be found sitting at the living room, each in various spots, trying to figure out what they were going to do about randomly bursting into song. So far none of them had any ideas, nor did they have any leads. Sure the people in town were acting weird too, and apparently (according to a scout) even the people in the mountains were singing, but that wasn't much to go off of.

"Is this even safe?" Bulma asked in concern. "I remember a show where people did something like this...and starting to burn up. Have any of you felt hotter than normal?"

"Not really." Leta shrugged, she'd been bursting into song more than anyone else in the room. "This is actually kinda fun."

"We've put off our leave for this...atrocity," Annya spoke up which earned a nod from Bardock and King Vegeta.

"It's not so much atrocity," Goku said with a smile.

Annya rolled her eyes.

"I didn't know you had such a good singing voice," Leta said playfully as she looked to Goku.

"Sing...heal...play with children, is there any soft thing you can't do Goku?" Annya asked blandly.

Goku pouted.

"It's sad, but true." Bardock's smooth alto chimed in.

"They come flocking to your son crying 'Help us! Help us please!'" Leta added, "And he helps them, yes he does." She nodded. "Those poor unfortunate souls! In pain, in need…"

"Enough!" Annya snarled, frustrated with the constant singing.

"Annya...are you okay?" Goku asked as he reached out for her.

Annya narrowed her eyes on him for a second but settled back down. She knew why she was so riled up. She'd spent what had felt, and had been to her and Gohan only, six months in heat. Only to come out, bleed, and be sent straight back into heat. Thankfully she wasn't drawing attention for too long because Trunks came back in with Goten in tow. But the funny thing was that Trunks had a red cape on his back and a very serious look on his eyes.

"Hey, why are you wearing that Trunks?" Bulma asked as she caught sight of the cape.

"We've been training!" Goten smiled.

"You're...not supposed to be wearing that Trunks," Leta said slowly. "That's for the crown prince. You're not the crown prince."

"Why should I listen to you? You ran away." Trunks huffed.

Leta stiffened, "You don't know what you're talking about."

Trunks crossed his arms. "All the Saiyans say you ran from the planet before it blew, like a coward."

"Trunks…" Leta hissed as she stood up.

"What?" He questioned up.

Everyone had gone quiet at this point.

"Everyone knows it. That you ran away like a coward. And that you only came to help us cause you wanted to get pregnant with those runts. That you're just a cowardly tramp," he said that as though it were common sense.

One.

Two.

Three seconds of absolute silence.

"TRUNKS!" Bulma said with shock.

Leta reached forward and slapped him.

The air in the room was still.

Trunks fell onto his butt as he held his cheek. Tears had come to his eyes from the force of her hand. But it was his pride that had hurt the most. He tried to keep the tears from spilling out as sniffles started.

"You...you...hit me."

That was the first time a girl, that Leta, had ever hit him before.

Bulma spun around to Leta with the anger that only a mother could achieve fueling her motions. "That was wrong! I don't care what he said. You might be been raised like a barbarian with no self control but you do not hit my child. Any child. Do you understand me?"

Leta narrowed her eyes. "If you actually disciplined your son, I wouldn't have had to hit him."

"It's not up to you how I discipline my son!" Bulma was clearly reaching some deep seated anger as she reached down to pull Trunks into her arms. "You have no say over my family. For god's sake you're just a guest in my house who hasn't contributed one fucking thing."

Leta glared, her jaw locked. But instead of doing anything else, she moved out of the room.

* * *

Goku sat on his bed, arms resting on his legs, his mind deep in thought. The events of the day, of the past few days weighed heavily on his mind. Ever since the songs had started up, ever since Annya had come back smelling strongly of his son - like they'd been living together for at least a year - he couldn't stop thinking. And when Leta had tried to talk to him about what he needed to do...he couldn't stop thinking about the situation.

He could practically hear Leta's advise in his head.

"_Be assertive, make her touch you, make her fidget. Get under her skin… Be a man! You must be swift as the coursing river, with all the force of a great typhoon, with all the strength of a raging fire! Mysterious as the dark side of the moon!"_

He didn't know how to do many of those things. Sure he could be assertive and he supposed he could physically make her touch him. But he had never seen her really fidget before. And he didn't know how to get under her skin. Plus the whole thing about the elements or natural disasters...he was faster than a river, stronger than a typhoon or fire. He just didn't know how to be as mysterious as the dark side of the moon. Plus he was pretty sure that Annya would hit him or get back at him some way for actually making her touch him...she didn't like things like that. But Leta said she did. So it was pretty easy to see where the poor saiyan got confused.

As if summoned, Annya appeared in his doorway.

Goku looked up at her and blinked. "Hi Annya."

Annya nodded as she looked down. "What are you doing in here?"

"Thinking," Goku replied honestly as he stepped forward, only for her to look at him as though she were sizing him up.

"I died… many years ago." Goku rumbled, "And you make it feel like it isn't so…"

Annya had a feeling this wasn't going to go the way she wanted to as he reached out to grab her hands. He looked down into her eyes, a stillness she had never seen before in his features.

"And why you come to be with me. I think I finally know. mmm, mmm," Oh this was looking to be shaping up to a full song number.

"You're scared," He inclined his head, "ashamed of the way you feel. And you can't tell the ones you love, you know they couldn't deal."

Annya pulled back from him as quickly as she could. She was not going to call pray to a song and dance number...way too cliche and moronic for her taste. Plus she had the feeling that someone was watching them. And there was no way she was going to be caught up in it all.

"Whisper in a dead man's ear, it doesn't make it real," Goku said in a dark, quiet voice.

"I came up here to talk," Annya replied, trying to think of a way to halt his song.

"That's great. But I don't wanna play," Nope, he was still singing.

She had to admit he had a nice voice. And a nice everything else, which was really becoming a big issue.

"Cause being with you touches me more than I can say." He stepped closer. "You know, you've got a willing slave." He reached up and cradled her face in his hand, "You just love to play the thought that you might misbehave."

Goku's hand trailed down her face, tracing her neck before he settled on her shoulder. "'til you do, I'm telling you stop visiting my room."

He shoved her back away from him a bit, "and let me rest in peace!"

"I know I should go…" He nodded, "but I follow you like a man possessed."

Annya tried to dodge around him but he grabbed her into a hug. One of his hands went to her head as he held her ear against where his heart was beating away. She kind of wanted to tap a beat to it and lick his skin to see if he was sweating from how active it was.

"There's a traitor here beneath my breast. And it hurts me more than you've ever guessed. If my heart could beat more, it would break my chest," He announced.

"But I can see you're unimpressed," He released her, "So let me be!"

"Let me rest in peace, let me get some sleep." He fisted his hair in his hands. "Take my love and bury it down six foot deep. I can lay my body down but I can find that sweet release!"

His arms swept down and suddenly she found herself pinned against the wall. But not in the overly happy Goku style. In fact he had this threatening look on his face as he stared down at her. Like he was going to snap and hit something.

"Let me rest in peace. Why won't you let me rest in peace?"

The music faded off and Goku backed away from her, blinking. She had this stilled look on her face.

"Fine. I was going to come up here and misbehave before I left. But since you want to rest so much, I'm just going to leave and spare us both the time and energy," Annya said in a quiet, controlled angry tone.

And before Goku could stop her, Annya was out of the room.

Goku stood still, watching the door she'd just left through, his thoughts running a mile a minute. Suddenly, Leta's head appeared around the door frame, her expression was neutral.

"Goku… Once more with feeling."


	10. Chapter 10

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 10**_

Annya and Leta leaned over the side of the railing as they looked out to the new planet. In place of calling it Vegeta, the council (which consisted of Leta, King Vegeta, Bardock, and herself) decided that it would be called New Saiya. A much more fitting name as it had a window to the past, reminded people that this was a fresh start, but still represented who they were.

The planet itself was very different from the old planet Vegeta, very different. In place of barren lands there were forest and jungles. In place of hills, there were mountains so high that they passed the clouds without trying. The atmosphere absorbed all light except 600 - 700 nanometers of wavelength from the visible light spectrum so they still had the orange and red skies that they were used to and remembered fondly. The sun, at medium distance from the planet right now, was bright white and it would take the planet the Earth equivalence of twenty years to circle around a full rotation. So it would still get so much colder and so much colder than any human could stand but the Saiyans would be right at home with it. Even the fifty times Earth's gravity was easy to stomach for most of those who had been revived - not to say that most of them had an easy time with it but their bodies weren't breaking under the force.

The thing that both girls liked the most was that the moon did not have a twenty-eight day cycle here. In fact there was only a true full moon once every four years where the moon stayed full for three days and had a two day lee-way on either side of the zenith.

"It feels like home already." Leta sighed. "Never thought I'd be so happy to have a home world again."

Annya laid her head on the sun warmed wall-railing. It was made out of material similar to adobe brick back on earth but so much stronger, enough to withstand a punch from someone around a hundred thousand power level. Her tail moved back and forth happily as she turned her head to look upwards at Leta.

"I told you that patience was a virtue."

"Yeah, yeah." Leta rolled her eyes.

"So what is the first thing you want to do?"

"Hmmm, well…" Leta pondered, only to be cut off by crying. On instinct, Leta went inside and quickly emerged with her son, who was burrowed into her shoulder.

Annya stood up before she hopped to sit down on the railing instead. "You spoil him."

Leta glared at her as she pet little Vegeta's hair.

The redhead sighed and rolled her eyes. For someone who'd been angry at her for bonding with her own son, she was turning into a contradiction. But they were trying to change things on this new planet so hopefully it wouldn't come back to bite them in the ass.

"Come on your _highness_, dinner is being served."

* * *

Vegeta woke early, despite having only a few hours of sleep. Popping his shoulders, he got up and went through his morning routine. It wasn't until he walked into the dining room that the house was surprisingly empty.

"Woman! Where's breakfast?" Vegeta demanded.

"Just turn on the food machine, you know how it works." Bulma said from her table.

Vegeta snorted, crossed his arms, but walked over to said machine anyway.

The machine clicked and whirled in the silent house but soon yet the food came out. Wrapped in an oversized tortilla the eggs and sausage could be easily identified in the air. But something seemed to be missing. He was the only one down for breakfast. And after out of the house for a week he'd have thought everyone would have woken up at the smell of food and come down to eat with him. But it was quiet...even his blue haired women was abnormally quiet.

It'd insult his pride to ask, lowering himself to actually admit he didn't know something. Instead, once he was done eating, he began to prowl in and out of the house, searching high and low for those infernal women and the blasted children. He also kept an eye out for his father, but there was no sign of them. He couldn't even sense their energies on the planet.

Vegeta clenched his fists as he let out a minor power up.

"I'm not in the mood for games! Come out! Show yourselves!"

"Why are we yelling now?" Bulma asked, as she headed down the hall.

"This house is too quiet," Vegeta grumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Where are all the brats?"

"They left," Bulma gave him a dumbfounded look. "I thought you knew that."

"What?"

"They left last week Vegeta," the blue haired women replied with an eye roll. "By the way, did you bring Trunks back with you? He's missed a lot of his sessions."

Vegeta stared at her, disbelief painting his face. They'd all left, left without him knowing. Then his brain caught up with what Bulma had said. "The boy? I haven't seen him."

Bulma's mouth dropped a little bit as her eyes widened. He hadn't seen Trunks? Oh god. Someone took Trunks. She knew he was strong enough to take care of himself in the cities if a new villain hadn't risen up. But what if all this song and dance was only a cover up? What if Trunks wasn't the only one kidnapped? What if this music devil was kidnapping the world children to feed their world? What if they were taking all the kids to turn them into fuel for their monstrous ships?

"Vegeta," Bulma said with wide eyes. "We have to save Trunks!"

"What nonsense are you spouting now?"

"Trunks is gone Vegeta! I haven't seen him all week. And we still haven't found out who's behind all these songs and dance! What if they took him?" Bulma started panicking then an idea sprung up. "Wait..wait...a week. You don't think they took him do you?"

Vegeta stared at her, his glare softened by shock and worry. "Saiyans do not kidnap children."

"But she said she was going to keep him, what if she meant it Vegeta? I don't even know where they went!"

Vegeta pondered it a moment, anger steadily rising. "That blasted women took my children!"

* * *

"Look what we found." Bardock smirked as he and Toma approached the dining table. Each had, under one arm, a child.

"Trunks!" Leta exclaimed in shock. "When did you get here?"

"Uh...a week ago," Trunks said nervously as he wiggled under Toma's grip. "Hey, can you tell muscle head here to let me down?"

Leta sighed, but motioned for the children to be set down. "Now, Goten and Trunks… what are you two doing here?"

"We didn't want you to leave!" Goten exclaimed. "And we wanted to see the new planet."

"We?" Trunks said as he attempted to cross his arms. "You're the one that got us into this mess. I just followed to keep you out of trouble."

"So?" Goten asked, his expression innocent.

"Enough..." Leta barked as she rubbed the bridge of her nose."You're here now… The matter at hand is what do we do with you two until your parents notice you're missing?"

Goten blinked, "Oh yeah...I forgot that Gohan and Dad might worry. Hey Trunks...we should have written them a note."

Trunks rolled his eyes. "Should have thought about that before we left."

Suddenly Goten fell down and Trunks was soon to follow. Both men who had gathered them up finally let them drop, but of course they hadn't told the kids that so they were left to fall on their butts.

"Hey, that was mean!" Goten said as he stood up.

"So?" Bardock asked back. "Welcome to New Saiya, home of the mean."

Leta sighed, absently petting little Vegeta's hair as he slept. "Focus."

"Huh?" Goten asked.

"What do you want us to focus on?" Trunks asked in an aggrivated voice, clarifying what Goten meant to ask.

"What are we supposed to do with the two of you?" Leta scowled.

"I say we throw them into the sea," Bardock said with a bit of a smirk. "They are trespassing after all."

Leta gave him a flat look. "No." Taking a deep breath, she looked at the two boys. "I could use a few extra hands with the twins."

"The babies?" Goten asked with wide eyes and a smile. "Oh neat! Trunks, did you hear? We get to play with the babies!"

"I heard Goten, I'm standing right here," Trunks said before turning to Leta. "I don't want to be on baby duty. Can't we just use your phone and call home or something?"

"We don't have any yet." Leta shrugged. "Besides, you wouldn't be babysitting… you'd be playing with them while I'm busy."

"No thanks lady," Trunks said.

Toma laughed, "Boys got guts. Whose kid is he again?"

"Vegeta's." Leta smirked.

Toma nodded as he looked down at him. "Well if he's the prince's bastard he's probably got some strength on him. I guess we could put him to work on construction duty if he doesn't want to help with the kids."

Trunks froze, not liking the idea of doing hard labor. With a stubborn huff, and crossed arms, he snorted. "I'll watch them… and I'm not a bastard."

* * *

Gohan stood above the mass of Satan City, still often called West City by prior generations. Expect this time he wasn't in his Saiyaman outfit. No, he stood on the top of the tallest thing he could reach in the city and looked down. Thoughts about all that has happened filled his mind as he crossed his arms. He had trained so hard for Videl but had stumbled at the end. He had fallen and he had no idea how to make it up to her, either of them. Videl didn't know about what he'd done for her and what hell he'd put himself through just to feel like he wouldn't do it again. It was probably why she'd slammed the door in his face. After all it had only been a few days for her...

"I have often dreamed of a far-off place where a great warm welcome will be waiting for me," Gohan said, his voice floating in the wind as he sung out to the city. "Where the crowds will cheer when they see my face..."

"And a voice keeps saying," He looked over the landscape. "This is where I'm meant to be!"

"I will find my way! I can go the distance!" he clenched his fists. "I'll be there someday, if I can be strong!"

"I know every trial will be worth my while," Gohan said as he jumped off the overlooking area. "I will go almost anywhere...to feel like I belong."

"Like a shooting star, I will go the distance!" He shot into the air, "I will search the world! I will face its harms!"

Raditz, saibamen, Nappa, Vegeta, Garlic Jr., all the androids, Cell and the Tuffles...all had come to damage the Earth. And he'd faced them all

"I don't care how far -I can go the distance," All the training, all the different masters he had. "Until I find my hero's welcome waiting in your arms..."

Gohan let out a sigh, he'll be glad once this singing faze is done. With a quick stretch, he turned to head home when something caught his eye. Looking down, he watched in confusion.

"What's going on?"

Below him on ground level were people lined up in rows of three. The column stretched from where he was until he couldn't see them. All of them were evenly spaced as if it were all arranged. And he could hear music. It sounded so similar but at the same time he knew he had never heard it before. But it made him want to follow the sound, and the people, and find the source. Whatever made that music would bring heaven on Earth...

Gohan snapped out of something like a daze as he felt himself starting to fall from the sky. Then when he looked down again, there was no where there. All of the collumns of people were suddenly gone.

"This isn't good…" Gohan muttered to himself before he shot off towards Capsule Corp.


	11. Chapter 11

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 11**_

Goku walked through the door and looked around. By now the living room was filled with noise and chatter. But it hadn't been that way for a week. In fact he hadn't seen anyone else besides Bulma since his last song to Annya. He'd spent the last week looking all over Earth trying to find out where the redhead said she was leaving for...or at least figuring out where she went.

"Hey guys?" Goku called out as he looked around. "Guys?"

"Oh, Goku!" Bulma's mom came teetering out to him, her smile wrinkling her face in that kind way.

"Where is everyone?" He asked in confusion.

"Oh, Vegeta and Bulma went out to get the kids back dear," she said. "Apparently the other two girls you guys were playing with took them out...a new planet or something. Would you like some cookies?"

"What?" Goku meeped out of surprise. "The girls left for a new planet?"

Mrs. Briefs nodded, her dyed blond hair bouncing up and down. "Yeah. All the Saiyans left for the planet honey. Well besides you and Vegeta."

Goku crossed his arms, deep in thought. "Thanks, but I better go find Gohan."

"Okay. Take care sweety!" Mrs. Briefs said before Goku teleported away.

* * *

Deep in space, the Capsule Corp. space ship sped towards the planet of New Saiya. Inside, seated before the controls was Bulma, anxiously tapping her feet. If only she'd made the ship faster. Vegeta stood near the center, pacing agitatedly. Occasionally, he'd bark out a comment of his impatience, but otherwise he kept to himself.

Then suddenly he felt himself crushed to the ground under two sacks of fabric covered muscles.

"It's raining men! Hallelujah!" Bulma sang out before she slapped her hands to her mouth and laughed. "Well...I guess that answers that question - all this singing isn't limited to Earth."

"Hi Bulma!" Goku said with a wide smile from his spot on the pile.

"Goku… Gohan… I knew we forgot something!" Bulma exclaimed to herself.

"GET OFF OF ME!" Vegeta raged from underneath Gohan and Goku.

"Whoops!" Goku jumped off his fellow Saiyan. "Sorry Vegeta!"

Gohan followed suit but instead of apologizing, he looked to Bulma, "So...where are we traveling to?"

Bulma looked between Goku and Gohan as Vegeta went back to his pacing. "I thought mom would tell you...we're going to get my son back."

"What?"

"Yeah, she mentioned they'd gone with the girls…" Goku nodded. "They left for a new planet?"

"Apparently there's a new Planet Vegeta," Vegeta said in a snarl. "And the only reason we even know where to go is because that blasted women of yours left a note in _my_ chamber."

"Huh… so, Trunks went with them?" Goku asked.

"No," Bulma said defensively, "she took him. I just know it."

"Goten's missing too." Gohan piped up.

"Wh-" Goku shut himself up, looking guilty for a second.

"Goten… but why would he be missing?" Bulma asked.

"Isn't it obvious women?" Vegeta snapped. "They've been planning this all along! Getting us to trust them...wish back some of the saiyans...they played us all for fools!"

"Vegeta… I don't think that's it." Goku muttered, serious.

"Then what is it Kakarot? Why else would she have stolen my children?" Vegeta snarled.

"I don't know about Trunks but… have you even seen the twins since they were born?" Goku asked, his brow furrowed. "They're more Leta's than yours."

Vegeta's mouth twitched as he folded his arms over his chest.

* * *

Leta sat in the garden outside her quarters, basking in the peace and quiet. Well, almost peace and quiet, as a block sailed past her head.

"No! We don't throw them!" Goten pouted only to have Reena laugh in his face.

She watched with a small smile as Goten tried to teach her little girl how to build a castle… or was it a fort? Leta couldn't remember. Movement out of the corner of her eye brought her attention to the previously jealous Trunks who was carrying his little brother on his back. They were flying about close to the ground. Her son's squeals of joy were nice to hear.

"My lady, there is someone landing on the planet who wasn't given permission," one of the monitors informed her from the open doorway, a clenched hand on his chest.

Leta sighed, "It's about time they showed up. It's fine, simply the prince and his motley crew."

"Dad's here?" Trunks asked as he came to a stop in the air.

"It appears so, just stay here… Bardock'll bring them." Leta popped her back before relaxing back into her seat.

"Psh, too late," Trunks said with a bit of a laugh as he sat baby Vegeta on the ground.

Above them was a rather pissed looking Vegeta with Goku and Gohan pulling up behind him, trying to calm him down. But obviously they had failed.

"Trunks, come here," Vegeta said with a bit of a grunt.

"Why?"

"We're leaving. Grab the kids."

"Why? They're Leta's." Trunks crossed his arms.

"Just get over here," oh Vegeta was not a happy camper. "And bring them with you now!"

Gohan moved out before him to block his vision, "Woah, wait a minute Vegeta. This is not what we came to do."

"Move out of the way boy."

"Take the children inside." Leta commanded her monitor, who quickly obeyed. Once her twins were safe, she rose into the air.

"He didn't mean it Leta," Goku intervened. "He was just upset that the kids were suddenly gone is all."

"I mean every word Kakarot."

Leta remained silent as she hovered before the group from earth. The tension was suddenly broken by a happy Goten.

"Brother! Guess what!" he cheered as he zoomed around Gohan, "We got to play with the babies! It was so much fun! We got to hang out with grandpa too! I'm glad we decided to come!"

"You decided to come?" Gohan spoke up as he idly watched his brother fly around him. "So they didn't take you here?"

"Nope! We snuck into Annya's ship and blast off! We were at the planet for a week...nearly starved though but Trunks said she'd notice we were there if we weren't really quiet, raised our energy, or took too much food."

"Boy…" Vegeta growled.

Trunks crossed his arms, "It wasn't my idea! I just made sure we didn't get thrown into outer space and all."

Vegeta clenched his fists, a snarl marring his face. His head whipped over to Goku when Goku put his hand on his shoulder. The other saiyan's face had a smile as if nothing had been wrong.

"So where's Annya?"

Vegeta couldn't take it. He simply elbowed Goku in the ribs as he descended to the ground. He was not going to stay there and listen to that fool make an even bigger fool out of himself over a women. As he descended, he noticed that Leta's gaze remained on him as she slowly followed.

"What?" He snapped.

Instead of rising to meet his glare and bark, she simply stared at him. Her blue gaze almost soft. Wait… Saiyans don't have blue eyes. Vegeta's eyes narrowed at this observation.

"Why are your eyes blue woman?"

Leta blinked, having been caught off guard. Her mind had been immersed in her own thoughts. "Why do you ask? They never bothered you before."

"Saiyans don't have blue eyes."

"Yet, I do." Her tone wasn't mocking, or cocky, as if she were stating a fact.

Vegeta grunted as his eyes narrowed on her.

* * *

Annya stilled her hand as she stood over a what looked to be a rudementary lab table. Her nose twitched, nearly causing her to sneeze as if it was remembering an irritating event attached to the scent that just entered her room.

"Hello, Gohan, what can I do for you?"

Gohan just paused in his approach. He was used to people knowing who the person behind them was by now. But he also knew that her sense of ki wasn't that developed so that meant she had used some other contextual clue. More than likely his scent and that kind of felt a little weird to him.

"I just...you're okay right?"

Annya sat her bottles down before she turned around. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"The time-chamber," the half-saiyan said nervously.

She sighed a little bit. Of course that was going to come up. It was a wonder he hadn't brought it up before. But then again she was thankful he hadn't either. She'd been hoping to just let it go.

"Don't worry Gohan, you didn't hurt me," she held up her hand to cut him off, "and please...don't beat yourself up for it. I tormented you for six months straight - it's very natural. You held up so much better than any other saiyan would have."

"Annya?" He finally got to speak back up.

"No I'm not," she anwered his unasked question quietly.

"But I thought you said-"

"I took care of it," Annya said in a dismissal tone as her eyes flickered over to their newest arrival. "I didn't want you to have to worry about it."

"Took care of what?" Goku asked with a smile as he walked into the room, passing Gohan.

"Where you guys will be staying for the week of the moon," Annya said smoothly to cover up the prior conversation.

"Yeah, I kind of wanted to talk to you about that," Goku said with a serious expression on his face. "Hey, think you can give us a few minutes Gohan?"

Gohan looked nervously between Annya and his father. On one hand his guilt at the prior situation with Annya wanted him to make sure she was okay. But on the other hand he really didn't even want to look at her for fear that it would all come rushing back. Or that his father would find out what had happened. The last thing he wanted to do right now was upset his father. Well, upset his father more. Cause Goku did not look all that happy to begin with. Swallowing down something that might have been pride, Gohan left the room.

As soon as Gohan left the room and closed the door behind him, Goku's smile returned. Gone was the serious expression in favor of a more open happy-go-lucky Goku.

"So, how did I do?" Goku asked.

Annya blinked. "What?"

Goku walked over to her with the smile, not answering her question. "So why did you leave?"

"Because we were resettling."

"I didn't know you were going with the rest of them," Goku said as his smile faded while he stood directly in front of her, towering over her without even trying. "You should have told me Annya."

She just stared up at him dully.

"I thought it was because of the full moon," Goku said quietly as he reached out to put his hands on her hips.

Annya looked down to where he put his hands and rose an eyebrow. "I've been through many full moons. What would have made this one different?"

"Cause you were ready to _misbehave_ with me," oh, he said it was common knowledge.

The redhead looked back up at him and frowned. She'd said that out of frustration - she hadn't meant to tell him why she went up to see him after deciding he didn't really want to see her. But her temper had gotten the better of her after everything that had gone on. Annya clenched her fist as she felt a familiar sensation rising inside of her. It was like the last time the song started up, and just like last time she did not want to do it.

"Annya...are you okay?" Goku said as he looked down at her with concern. "You're not sick are you?"

"I'm not sick," Annya confirmed as she heard her jaw click.

"Then why don't you look happy? Was I not supposed to come visit?"

She couldn't help it this time. The music was roaring in her ears and she was pretty sure that by now Goku could hear it too. "Gotta fight another fight - I gotta run another night. Get it out, check it out I´m on my way and it don´t feel right."

"Why don't you feel right?" Goku asked, having already understood that people sang only what they were feeling from his own musical number.

"I gotta get me back. I cant be beat and thats a fact. It´s okay, I´ll find a way. Ain´t gonna take me down, no way. No, oh, oh, oh," Annya pushed herself away from Goku with a look of self disgust on her face. "Yeah, don´t judge a thing till you know whats inside it."

"I want to know," Goku said in a quiet, earnest voice.

"Don´t push me, I´ll fight it. Never gonna give in, never gonna give it up, no no, oh, oh, oh," Annya gave up trying to feel bad about whatever was affecting them and just went with it. "If you can´t catch a wave then you´re never gonna ride it. You can´t come uninvited."

Goku turned her around and held her by the shoulders. She used her arms and came up from the middle, effectly pushing his hands off of her as she backed up.

"Never gonna give in, never gonna give it up, no. You can´t take me, I´m free!"

And with that last line Annya clenched her head between her hands.

"Hey, are you sure you're okay?" Goku asked in concerned.

"Get out," Annya said quietly as she backed herself against a wall.

"But..."

"Get out!" She snapped.

As soon as Goku walked out and closed the door behind him, Annya sank down onto her butt. She pulled her knees closer to her and wrapped her arms around them. Letting out a deep, shaking breath Annya put her head between her legs. She didn't know why she felt so bad but it was like everything was spilling out of her so suddenly, so quickly. And the guilt was piling up by the second. She'd done so much crap in her life but she hadn't regreted much of it. Now...now she was regretting so many different things.

And what was worse was that the music in her head had come back as she choked on her own regret.

"Why did it all go wrong? I want to know whats going on. What´s this holding me? I´m not where I´m supposed to be..."


	12. Chapter 12

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 12**_

"Don't scowl at me." Leta rolled her eyes, "If you're so concerned about them, you need to at least meet them."

"Why would I need to meet them? They're mine."

Oh yes, this argument had been going on since everyone had landed the day before. Goku had fluttered away to do whatever Goku thing he did as Gohan went with Bardock to explore the planet. Trunks and Goten played wherever they wanted and visited with Bulma who was, more or less, trapped in the spaceship they came in. Vegeta had warned her upon arriving that the fifty times Earth's gravity would crush her bones and she took his word for it.

"No, they're not. You've never touched them or seen them." Leta shrugged as she continued on towards the twins' room, "They don't even know who you are. How can they be yours if they don't know you?"

"They are mine women, end of discussion."

"And yet…" Leta turned to face him as she stopped in front of the door. "You followed me anyway."

Vegeta grunted.

Leta flashed him a smile, a real one, as she turned and opened the door. Vegeta stared at her back, confused, before his ears were assaulted by high pitched cries.

"Now now, mommy's here!" Leta cooed as she walked over to the twins' bed. "And I brought food!"

Vegeta walked in after her with his arms at his sides. He was not going to falter under the sound; he was not going to fall prey to the first attack that they delivered to him. He watched, almost stunned, as Leta magically made the noise stop. She stood there, talking in a ridiculous voice, over the bed. In each hand she held a bottle, the same ones she'd been carrying with her when she picked him up, that were pressed into the infants' mouths. Their tails flicked back and forth in contentment as they ate.

"Hn. So they can't eat yet?" Vegeta brought up as he watched Leta feed them their green liquid breakfast.

"Of course not, they have no teeth." Leta glanced at him.

"Hn," it didn't actually seem that malicious.

After a few more moments, the children finished their breakfast. With a smile, Leta picked them both up, one on each arm. With smiles and happy noises, the twins burrowed their heads against her chest, tails flicking in contentment.

"Can we get to breakfast already?" And of course, Vegeta has to spoil the mood.

Giving him a look, Leta shifted one of her arms, "Hold out your hands."

"Why?"

"The sooner you do it, the sooner you can go to breakfast." Leta rolled her eyes.

It seemed like for a moment, they would be fighting about this. But then he held out one of his hands.

Leta nodded before handing him his son, setting the baby boy in the extended hand. Out of surprise, Vegeta grasped the small body gently, amazingly. Leta smiled as she watched father and son stare at each other in mutual confusion. "This is little Vegeta."

"Little," Vegeta said in a mocking sort of tone. "Hn, fitting."

Leta sighed, "It's only a nickname. We can't really call him Vegeta with you here. Everyone will get confused!"

Vegeta smirked.

The younger Vegeta was not as amused. He stared at the man holding him with what would be best described as contempt. It slowly morphed into a glare, he didn't like this man, he wasn't mommy.

"Woman, this thing is defective," Vegeta spoke out as he scowled down at his son.

"No he's not." Leta placed her free hand on her hip. "He doesn't know you yet, so he doesn't trust you. He's usually a content baby, appears he has some of your grumpiness."

"I am not grumpy woman. You and everyone else are too happy."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Leta sighed as she took her son from Vegeta and replaced him with her daughter. "This one is Reena."

"It is a girl," Vegeta seemed to be the master of the obvious today.

"Yes, her name is Reena." Leta repeated with a slight frown as she rubbed her sons back.

Vegeta snorted, "Sounds like a child's plaything."

"No, her name means 'surprise'. She was one after all."

"Hn," he grunted as he turned the girl over, trying to inspect her for any unforeseen damages. Her tail curled around his wrist. "What is she doing woman?"

Leta smiled, "She likes you."

Reena, who'd been staring at her father up until this point began to make grabbing motions with her hands. She struggled in his grasp, trying hard to reach his body.

"What is she doing now? Make her stop," Vegeta demanded as he narrowed his eyes at the active infant.

Still smiling, Leta grabbed her daughter. Vegeta dropped his hands and let out a small sigh, the only thing betraying his discomfort at the previous situation. He then stiffened, feeling a small body being pressed against his chest while small hands grasped his shirt. Looking down, he found that Leta, instead of taking the child back, had pressed her against him.

"I don't want this thing on me!" Vegeta balked.

Leta's only response was a knowing smirk as she grabbed his wrists one by one and placed them against the child, effectively supporting her. Before he could retract his hands, the small bundle began to purr.

"Awe she loves you kem kov," Leta said with a small smile.

Vegeta stared at the child, his mind a mess of new emotions and thoughts. These children were bad news, but he couldn't help but feel connected to them.

* * *

Bardock leaned against the wall with a smirk on his face as he watched the woman before him type something into some machine or another.

"You, woman," Bardock called out.

"My name is Annya,"

Bardock grunted. "Are you fertile?"

She narrowed her eyes on him when she turned around to look at him. She understood where this was going.

"No."

"Liar."

Annya turned away, a small scowl on her face. "You wanted something?"

"Yeah, you pregnant."

"Take a number," Annya said quietly. "I'm now serving zero."

"Not an option." Bardock crossed his arms. "I want grandbabies."

Annya stared at him for a moment, trying to see if he was really that thick. Had it escaped his notice that he already two grandchildren?

"Goten and Gohan," Annya reminded him.

Bardock grunted. "They're grown."

She stared at him, "No."

"I don't want grandkids or grandchildren… I want grandbabies." Bardock nodded.

"Then go talk to Gohan and Goku, not me. Leave me out of it."

"Can't do that, you're the problem." Bardock smirked.

"When you have to carry a child to term, we'll talk about who's being a problem," Annya replied blandly. "Besides, get Kakarot drunk enough and I'm sure any saiyan female will do."

Bardock frowned, "You don't want him drunk. Besides, he has this moral thing… only sleeps with women he likes."

"Then get him Fasha," Annya said as she turned back around in her chair. "He at least knows her. And during the next full moon he'll like her enough."

Bardock narrowed his eyes, not liking that idea at all. Fasha may not have been his Zeyato, but she was his woman. With a scowl, he grabbed her by her hair and dragged her off behind him.

"Bardock..." Annya said in warning as her hands went to clench his wrist.

Bardock smirked. "KAKAROT!"

"No!" Annya cried as she tried to detangle her hair from his fist.

"KAKAROT!"

"Yeah dad?" Goku appeared via instant transmission.

"Breed with your woman." Bardock smirked as he held up this still struggling Annya.

Goku watched his father hold Annya up by her hair. She didn't look like she was in any pain but she didn't look very happy either. Probably because of the fact that whenever this subject came up she was never happy.

"She doesn't want to," Goku said honestly. "Besides there isn't a full moon."

"So? Take her back to earth with you. They get plenty of 'um." Bardock shrugged. "She'll be more than happy to then."

"No I won't," Annya said with clenched teeth at the exact time Goku said: "No she won't."

"Kakarot… You're a Saiyan, right?" Bardock asked, fist against his hip.

"Bardock...last warning," Annya said tersely to which he only gave her a huffing laugh.

"Well...yeah..."

"Then act like it! Take what's yours and make me grandbabies." Bardock smirked.

Annya's eyes narrowed considerably as she gripped onto his arm. She pushed herself up, pulling his arm with her. She didn't care about the fact that he still has a grasp on her hair, nor the fact that it hurt. Annya caught her weight with her hands into a handstand, pulling Bardock back at a weird angle for him before her feet wrapped around his neck. She continued with the momentum and direction of gravity to throw him into the wall. Into might have been too kind of a word - he went through it, causing debris to fill the air in a light red dust.

The redhead stood up to her full height, which compared to the boys was tiny, and glared at Bardock as he started to pick himself up and come back through the opening. He rubbed his head and glared at her, to which she returned.

"Feisty. I changed my mind - I want more kids instead."

Goku's eyes were the next to narrow.

"Unless, she's already taken." Bardock raised an eyebrow at his son.

"I am," Annya said, causing them both to look her at with shock. "I've taken myself, staked a claim and all. Now both of you, go. I have work to do."

Bardock crossed his arms, "Ain't an option and you know it." He turned to Goku, "You hear that? She doesn't want you… for shame."

"It's because I'm not Fabio," by now Annya wasn't sure if he was joking or not, because that look was very serious.

"What the hell does Fabio have to do with anything?" Bardock asked. "Who the hell is Fabio? Don't you know anything about mating habits son?"

"No," Annya said blandly. "He doesn't need them."

"Hell if he doesn't," Bardock grunted.

Annya turned around as she rolled her eyes and started to walk away. Bardock whistled and laughed.

"Nice tail," Bardock commented which he got a middle finger held up to him in reply. "Oh yeah, son, she'll give you good kids."

"She doesn't want them though," Goku said in a casual tone.

Bardock gave him a flat look, "Kakarot… we need to talk."


	13. Chapter 13

**Of Fire and Blood**

_**Chapter 13**_

"Vegeta…?" Bulma hesitated, the sight before was just that strange.

She'd just finished eating lunch, watching the security feeds Annya had hooked up to the ships computers, when the ships door opened. She hadn't paid it much mind; it was one of the boys without a doubt, until she heard strange noises. Turning to face the other occupant, her gaze landed on the Saiyan prince… and the two children that were climbing on all over him. The small, look a-like boy sat on Vegeta's shoulder, hands fisted in the prince's hair. Nestled under his chin was a small girl, her small fists tapping against his chest. Both children were making happy noises to match their smiling faces and wagging tails.

"Hn, what do you want woman?"

"Are you...are you feeling okay?" Bulma asked, concerned by this very apparent parental bonding.

Vegeta grunted before continuing his walk around the ship, appearing to not notice the two squirming bundles attached to his body. Bulma watched, in stunned silence. He'd never shown any interest in Trunks when he was that small… he didn't even acknowledge their son until he threw his first ki blast. And yet, there Vegeta was, allowing the twins to climb all over him. Bulma jumped when she saw little Vegeta lose his grip on his father's hair and start to tumble. Her worry was unfounded. Vegeta, without pausing in his walk, caught his son and moved the boy to nestle next to his sister. What was wrong with him?

"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You're holding the twins." Bulma deadpanned.

Vegeta snorted, "They're mine."

"That's...that's never mattered before Vegeta," Bulma responded in a slow voice as she watched him place both children on the floor.

Vegeta huffed, his attention the twins who were currently wiggling around his feet.

"Do they ever stop moving woman?" Vegeta grumbled.

"I don't know Vegeta. Trunks wasn't this active as a baby," Bulma said with a frown as she looked down at the two of them.

The girl, Bulma remembered her name to be Reena, had managed to roll onto her back. She lay on the floor, tail flicking back and forth, as she kicked and waved her fists around. Little Vegeta was sitting up, tail wiggling lazily as he stared up at his father.

"I think he's watching you," Bulma said with a bit of awe.

Little Vegeta put his own tail in his lap, holding it up to eye level, then brought it back down to stare at Vegeta. Either he was playing some form of peek-a-boo or he was trying to figure out why his daddy didn't have a tail. Either way it was advanced for a child who wasn't that old and had been born premature on top of that. Vegeta raised an eyebrow as his son continued playing with his tail.

Leta's eyes could be seen peaking into the chamber if someone cared to look hard enough. Every few seconds she'd dodge to the side, or down, but for the most part she tried to see what was happening inside of the closed chamber. Her children were in there after all.

Her mind was racing, Vegeta wasn't acting like himself. First he's possessive of children he'd never even met. Then, instead of being insulted, he was almost sad when the king informed him why they hadn't told him they'd left. He'd actually noticed her eye color, and now he was spending time with their children… willingly! Something was wrong with him… or was it that she was just seeing a new side of him. One she'd never seen before…

"There's something sweet and almost kind..." She sang to herself as she watched him interact with the twins. "But he was mean and he was course and unrefined, but now he's dear and so I'm sure…" She smiled as she watched him let the children burrow against his chest.

"I wonder why I didn't see it there before."

* * *

If dinner was scary back on Earth, then this scene on New Saiya was a horror flick. Animals of different shapes and sizes than the others were used to, sat roasted on plates. Surrounding the meat were plants and vegetables that, they were pretty sure, had basically been alive prior to being picked. And some things that looked like squishy balls glowing in some type of thick purple sauce seemed to be a sweet.

The eating process was much the same as it was on earth, stuff your face with whatever you can grab. Vegeta was in the midst of doing just that when he reached for a roasted leg. He froze when he felt another hand brush against his. Looking, he saw that Leta had also reached for the roasted leg. They both sat there, frozen mid reach, looking at each other. Just when Vegeta thought he'd have to fight her for the food, she slowly dropped her hand. Her blue eyes darting away from his own black ones as she turned away, a soft smile on her face. He sat there a moment longer, trying to figure out what was wrong with the woman, she glanced at him. It was fast, he almost didn't see it, but he did. He also saw that soft smile grow… it wasn't right. With a glare, he stood from the table and left. Something wasn't right.

"She glanced my way… I thought I saw…" He scowled as he walked back to the ship. "And when we touched she didn't shudder at my paw." He clenched said fist. "No, it can't be… I'll just ignore…" He came to a stop in the yard, several paces from the ship. His expression relaxed a bit, going from his normal glare to a look of confusion. "But then she's never looked at me that way before."

* * *

_Back in the dining room_...

Leta wasn't being so reserved with her vocal expressions: "New and a bit alarming! Who'd have ever thought that this could be?"

Annya raised an eyebrow as she chewed, she didn't like where this was going.

"True… he's no Prince Charming." Leta placed her head in her hand, "But there's something in him that I simply didn't see…"

"Well, who'd have thought?" Bardock looked to the king and Annya.

"About damn time." Annya piped up.

"Well, who'd have known?" Bardock shrugged.

"Who indeed…" Annya rolled her eyes. "Who'd have guessed they'd come together on their own?"

"It's so strange." Bardock nodded.

"We'll wait and see a few days more," King Vegeta crossed his arms. "There may be something there that wasn't there before."

* * *

_Meanwhile, Back on Earth..._

It was dark and smoky in the room, with sounds of all sorts floating in. Melodies of times long since passed and upbeats that hadn't been invented yet. In this room there were two cloaked figures hunched over what looked to be a mirror. Only this mirror showed a general oval that lead to some sort of shoulders, all black, within its surface. And behind this vague image of a humanoid person was a sky of pink and orange and the bodies of fallen warriors.

_**"Has it been done?"**_

"It has," one of the cloaked figures said in an oily voice.

_**"Very well. Where is this woman?"**_

The other made a motion and then a curtain on the side was pulled back. A woman walked through, her image very unclear for a moment until she came upon a beam of light. Black hair tied back into a bun, a fighting kimono of yellow and purple, and eyes that seemed as dead as the dead sea.

_**"Let me see what you have done." **_

The cloaked man number one smiled wickedly and held up two pictures to the person who was very obviously the aging Chichi. Inside each picture was the image of a girl. And not just any girls...but the saiyan woman who had come down to "ruin her life" as she'd come in singing.

"What is this feeling? Fervid as a flame! Does it have a name?" She glared at the photos. "Yes! Loathing! Unadulterated loathing!" Her fists clenched. "For your face, your voice, your clothing! Let's just say I loathe it all! Every little trait, however small, makes my very flesh begin to crawl with simple utter loathing! There's a strange exhilaration in such total detestation! It's so pure, so strong! Though I do it admit it came on fast, still I do believe that it can last. And I'll be loathing, loathing you, my whole life long!"

And then before the mirror and the cloaks, Chichi crumpled into a ball as she panted. Her skin seemed suddenly to have a sick tone and she looked to be having a hard time catching her breath. It was almost like she was exhausted and spent, someone who had seen their prime many years ago despite the fact she'd been healthy enough a week prior.

"_**I'm impressed, continue."**_


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: **Thought we'd clear this up as people may be disturbed by some of the following ideas - we, as people, are not okay with forced sex (rape) nor do we want to make light of any situation anyone has gone through on that subject. We do, however, want to make a distinct species and culture based off of what we've seen in the anime. Sexual Dimorphism seems to be previalant between male and (the very few) females we get to see in the show and we have tried to model their behaviors with eachother accordingly since Of Moons and Tails. And given that saiyans seem to take action first, do the question thing later, (along with other factors) the both of us believe they (the saiyans who haven't lived on Earth for longer periods of time) might not have an actual concept of rape.

* * *

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 14**_

The red sky stretched out over the ocean, similar colors mixing as the people's eye sight started to blur. The only difference was that the ocean moved back and forth slowly, ever so slowly, from the force of all the animals inside of it, gravity, and the planet's rotation. The nineteen hour day was about to give way to its equal counterpart, a sign of the season being mild. Soon the prelude of the full moon would rise, something that most saiyans were supposed to have left the area for. But that didn't seem to faze Bardock as he slammed his fist into yet another saiyan's jaw, turning their head and the body followed.

"Psh, weakling," Bardock spat.

Fasha laughed from the stack of unconscious bodies that built up. "You're too much Bardock."

"You're mine, you'd think they'd get that through their skull," the saiyan was not happy apparently.

"Come on, cut the guys some slack, I've got to be like one of three females not pregnant to mate with. Not everyone likes shananagans as much as you and King Vegeta."

Bardock gave her a blank look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Fasha snorted as she put her arm across her leg. "You know what I mean Bardock. So when you meeting the King tonight for shananagans?"

In the blink of an eye, Fasha found herself thrown over Bardock's shoulder.

Fasha tried to kick Bardock in the stomach before he strapped one of his arms around her thighs. She glowered at him but couldn't do much in the way of hitting his back as his armor was still fully intact. Bardock laughed in the back of his throat as Fasha half heartedly protested against his actions.

* * *

Bardock walked out of the room, pulling his armor top back on as he went. Apparent Fasha decided she didn't like the fact that he hadn't thought to...hold back last night and so he wisely chose to leave the quarters he'd taken over the prior night. He couldn't help but laugh at her - he knew she would secretly be something close to happy about having another chance at a family on this new planet. After all the last kid she had with him hadn't ended up like either of them planned.

"Hey Dad!" Goku said. "I thought you slept in the palace?"

"Usually," Bardock nodded. "Had a busy night getting my woman pregnant."

"Who?" Goku asked with a bit wide eyes.

"My woman, Fasha," Bardock smirked.

"Oh her," Goku said with a smile. "So I'm going to be a brother?"

"Yeah, guess so," Bardock nodded.

The wood-like window shutters opened up and Fasha stood out there glaring, "Fuck you."

Bardock shrugged and started in through the door again.

"Hmmm…" Goku hummed as he contemplated. "I'm gonna be a big brother… I want a sister!"

Bardock stopped at the door and turned to look at his son over his shoulder. "Why?"

"Well my last brother tried...no, he did kill me."

Bardock crossed his arms, "I think Raditz was defective."

"Well you're the one who named him after his hair!" Fasha said with a bit of a glare as she closed the shutters.

Bardock shrugged, "There was nothing else special about him."

And for that his hand was closed in the sliding door.

"Damn it woman. When I'm done talking to my son..." There was a not so veiled threat behind his words.

"Hey, you shouldn't be so mean to her," Goku said in a serious voice.

"That's another thing we need to talk about… but later." Bardock turned to his son. "But right now I want to know - is the redheaded woman pregnant yet?"

"Annya? No, why would she be?" Goku's brow furrowed in confusion.

Bardock's grip crumbled the wall as he growled. He spun around to Goku with a scowl and crossed his arms.

"What's wrong with you? She's fertile, bears strong sons...and I want grandbabies."

"But she doesn't want to…"

"So make her anyways," Bardock snorted.

Goku had this moment of horror on his face. He was pretty sure he didn't want to understand his father's logic on that one.

"I'm not going to rape her," he said seriously, staring at his near double.

Bardock sighed, "I don't know what that is...but forcing her proves you're stronger than her, women like that."

"That's...wrong," Goku said, he'd seen the spoils of war even if he'd been a young child some of the things never left. "I'm not going to force her to make a baby with me."

"She's your woman, ain't she?"

Goku didn't reply. Though his silence spoke for so many different topics.

"It's your right to breed with her, she should feel honored!" Bardock scowled. "You defeated Frieza, you're the first super Saiyan in centuries, and you've already sired strong sons. What more could she want?"

"I don't know," Goku mumbled.

"She's the only acceptable female for you." Bardock nodded, "Especially since Leta's taken."

"Is that important?" Goku asked, feeling conflicted.

Bardock snorted, "Considering the moon is rising and she's one of two female saiyans in existance who aren't pregnant if you don't do it soon someone else is going to try."

"But… She wouldn't let them…"

"She'd try." Bardock shrugged. "None of those males will take no for an answer."

"But...but she's as strong as a super saiyan."

"Yeah, but who says guys will fight fair for a women in heat? Hell, if they figure out that even one of them have a chance at the end...she might be piled with a few hundred Oozaru forms."

"That's barbaric!"

"That's the life of a saiyan."

* * *

"This sucks." Bardock announced, "This is so boring!"

"Welcome to our world," Annya replied dully as she rocked back and forth in her chair idly.

Bardock leaned his head over to look at her. But he didn't say anything in return. The honest truth was that he would have thought that the new life on this planet would have been more entertaining than it was. Especially when the full moon rolled around - that usually meant he got to kick ass and take names later. But they had been forbidden to actually turn this full moon (some none sense about accidentally damaging or blowing the planet up) so that was left with the urge to be active. The only other outlet he knew about was mating...but there were only two adult saiyan females on this planet that weren't pregnant. One was the sassy redhead he was trying to get grandbabies from and the other was King Vegeta's adopted daughter. Which meant that was out.

"Damn," Bardock grumbled. "What are we supposed to do on the full moon week? Sit here with our thumbs up our asses?"

"Essentially, yes," Annya answered.

"You and the King could-" Leta started but stopped when she practically felt King Vegeta glare at her in that 'I'm not amused' face.

"What about a world tournament? Like the one back on Earth." Goku pondered.

"Go on," King Vegeta prompted from the high spot of the table.

"Well, back on Earth there's the World Martial Arts tournament. Every couple years the world's strongest fighters enter it." Goku nodded, "I've fought in it several times, only won once though."

Bardock grunted as he moved his feet off of the table, "Once? How many times did you compete boy? Don't tell me you were that weak before you fought Frieza."

"Three times, I won the third time against Piccolo!" Goku smiled, "I haven't competed since then, and that was about six years before we went to Namek so…"

"Goku, you competed on the day you were allowed to come back from the other world," Annya reminded him.

Goku's smile slipped off. "Yeah, I forgot about that one. I guess I didn't win that one either."

Bardock grunted in distaste.

"To be fair Bardock, your son was only born with a power level of two," was the redhead's comment, making Goku start to frown.

"Yeah, that was pathetic," Bardock mumbled.

"And yet… that baby grew up and defeated Frieza." Leta commented, a small smile on her face.

King Vegeta snorted in amusement, "Yes. How quickly can a tournament be set up?"

"Well…" Goku pondered, not entirely sure what went into planning a tournament.

"If we tell them that they're allowed to fight with a restrained use of ki as it's an underground setting, I'm sure the only thing we would need to set up are the different divisions and how we will track all the applicants," Annya interjected. "Given that...if they're informed and we have a list of names, we could start tomorrow on the first day of the zenith of the moon."

"Very well." King Vegeta nodded, his arms crossed.

"About damn time we have something fun to do," Bardock replied with a little, self-satisfied smile.


	15. Chapter 15

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 15**_

Annya hovered in the air as she kept in front of a large graph. There were a lot of names she had to categorize and try to figure out if people were boasting about their fighting prowess or not. So far it was coming along but it was more time than she ever wanted to spend on setting something like this up. With a growl of frustration, Annya unfolded her legs and touched back down to the ground. Just in time for the door to open. She turned around to see Goku with a pensive look on his face.

"What's wrong?"

"Do you really not like me that much?" Goku asked from his spot in the cleared doorway.

Annya stared at him a moment, not sure how to answer his question.

His shoulders seemed to slump as he sighed. "You keep saying there are things wrong with me...but when I try to act differently you aren't happy then either."

"Kakarot…" Annya paused. "Is this about the meeting?"

"Yes… no…"

Annya closed her eyes for a second and she let out a breath before looking back to him. "It wasn't an insult this morning, when I said how you were born with a lower power level. It's actually a testament to how hard you can and have worked when you were confronted with your challenges."

"Everything else?" Goku asked, arms crossed.

"What else is there?"

"You keep telling me to be more Saiyan like… but when I try you get upset."

"You mean before or after the time when you came in and tried to force me to have sex with you?" Annya asked with a neutral expression.

"Before… after… All of it!" Goku huffed, having trouble articulating what exactly was wrong.

"So it's not that I've been mean to you that bothers you, it's how I treat you and everyone else?" Annya questioned up before following up. "In a sense...you are upset with who I am and how I treat people."

"That's not it…" Goku frowned, "I don't know what I'm expected to be anymore."

"What do you want to be?" Annya asked, instead of the remark she wanted to say which was '_And that's my problem_?'.

"Happy." Goku sighed.

"Then be happy. No one is stopping you."

"But I want everyone to be happy too!"

Annya sighed from where she was standing. She had a feeling that this was going to turn into a long conversation. Father and son both had issues trying to please everyone else around them. They tried to change themselves for what was needed. It was a good quality to have in a hero...but heroes never truly got their own happy endings.

"Which do you want more Goku? Do you want to be happy or do you want to make everyone else you meet happy? You can't have it both ways."

"I'm happy when those I care about are happy." Goku furrowed his brow.

"Then you've made your choice. Spend the rest of your life...and the next...and the next...making everyone else happy until there is no one left to wish you back with your dragonballs and you find you have nothing to make you happy anymore."

Goku's overall mood darkened at what she said, taking on a very melancholic air. Annya bit her tongue on the inside of her mouth. She hadn't meant to make him sad. She'd wanted to make him angry with her because honestly she just really wanted him out of the place. Her control was excellent...she didn't trust his when he got emotional.

"Look can we talk about this after the tournament?" Annya asked briskly as she pointed with her head to the chart behind her. "Maybe a good spar with Vegeta or Gohan will clear your head."

Goku gave a very slow nod, his entire posture betraying his continued sadness.

"Sadness doesn't suit you," Annya said as she turned around to get back to work.

Why did knowing he was so sad make her feel bad?

* * *

Leta stared at the sight before her, her confusion growing every passing second. She'd been in the process of moving her children out into the garden, and away from Vegeta, when she found said garden already occupied. Goku was seated on the bench, the air around him almost blue with despair. With a sigh, dispelled her confusion and joined him on the bench, the twins still in her arms. Once she'd set them on the ground to play, she turned her attention to the depressed Saiyan.

"Okay… who stole your sunshine?" She asked, half jokingly.

"What?"

"Your sunshine's all gone," Leta frowned, "these rainclouds don't work for you."

Goku looked at her with a solemn type of confusion. Then it turned over to just being sad once more.

"I don't need you making fun of me too."

Leta blinked in confusion, before genuine concern took over. "Who made fun of you?"

Goku shook his head. He knew it was a bit of an exaggeration to say that he'd been made fun of. It was just that he felt like he had been, in a way. Annya had told him to stop holding back way back when...she'd tried to help him and Gohan control their Oozaru forms...she'd spent six months with his family in space but then when they got back to Earth everything had changed. Like she'd just played on big joke on him. She wanted him to go make up with Chichi. He'd tried that, it hadn't worked out so well. She wanted him to be more like a Saiyan and take what he wanted. He'd tried that and she'd gotten very angry with him. He'd come to visit her on her new planet...she hadn't been glad to see him.

"No one..."

Leta frowned, not liking this depressed Goku at all. "Well, whoever it was is an idiot."

"I just don't know what she wants from me. I don't know what _I_ want from me," Goku admitted.

Leta blinked, sudden realization making her frown deepen. "She doesn't know what she wants either… I'm not sure anyone knows what they want from themselves. It's kinda like that big 'why are we here' question you all have on Earth." She shrugged, "There's no right or wrong answer."

"She doesn't know what she wants?" Goku asked as his brows scrunched up when he looked to her. "What about you? What do you want?"

Leta sighed as she leaned back on her arms. "What I want changes… I used to want a place to call home, and then I wanted to survive… Now I've got a home and I've survived, even have a family of my own. Now... I want my children to grow strong." She nodded, "As for what I want from myself, I'm not sure… I think we always fall short of our own expectations so it seems rather pointless to set them. We're our own worst enemies."

"But how can you fight yourself?" Goku asked in a bit of a whisper, his expression still confused.

"You don't." Leta crossed her arms, "If you fight with yourself, you'll just make things worse. You just have to believe in who you are, even if you don't know who that is anymore."

Goku leaned back on his arms, stretching out the muscles. He could understand what she was trying to say but it didn't make him feel any better. How was he supposed to believe in himself if he didn't have a purpose anymore? He'd always had a purpose...or at least since he'd met Bulma. He'd tried to find the Dragonballs with her. He defeated the Red Ribbon Army and he'd taken down King Piccolo. He'd competed in the tournaments and he'd started a family. He'd fought his brother and then he'd died. But in the afterlife he'd trained to defend the Earth once more before he came back to defeat Nappa and Vegeta.

And on and on it went until he found himself sitting in the garden with nothing to do...nothing to strive for. Even the family he'd started was in shambles. Gohan was grown up. Goten was a kid still but he felt like he didn't belong in the whole raising Goten process. He'd thought maybe he had a new way to start over with Annya. She'd trained with him, helped him saved the world, had almost patched him back up with his sons...but then she ripped herself away. What was he to do now?

Leta sighed as she turned her eyes back to her children as they played with each other. "I know it all seems crazy now… Everything's changed so fast." She paused as she searched for the right words, "But… maybe that's a good thing."

"How?" Goku looked to her, confused.

"You used to always go and fight bad guys, right?" She paused as he nodded in response. "Well, there's gotta be more to Goku then that. Now's your chance to figure that out."

Goku nodded; he could remember the times when he wasn't fighting (as few and far between as those were) and they were what kept him going through the bad times. But it had been so long since he'd had real peace - the time in the afterworld didn't count because King Kai had kept him busy by keeping everyone else in line. So long since he didn't have to train to be stronger. What else made him happy? A vague picture of Gohan as a little kid filled his head. Laughing, he could remember a time when Gohan actually laughed. Not chuckled or that short laughter, or even that nervous thing he did. But actually laughed in happiness.

"Maybe…" Leta cocked her head to the side, "Maybe it's time to rediscover what made you happy before you were a hero? What'd you do when you were a kid?"

"I just lived," Goku reflected. "Go out...get food...check if there was any new activity in the mountains. I mean l lived by myself after Grandpa died and I didn't see another living being until Bulma found me."

"What was that like? Living out there on your own." She asked, partly to distract him and partly because she was actually curious.

Goku frowned. It was almost hard to remember. Time had seemed like a stupid concept back then. The idea that there was stuff beyond the mountains, places bigger than his house...he'd been very isolated.

"Different. I was in charge of myself, I answered to no one. But I didn't have anyone to talk to either. If Bulma hadn't found me...the Red Ribbon Army probably would have conquered the world. And then when Raditz came I definitely wouldn't have been strong enough to help stop him," Goku answered honestly and laughed. "He probably would have been the first person I saw other than her too."

"I'm glad she found you then, I've only heard things about that supposed brother of yours and none of them are good." She nodded, "but living in the mountains like that sounds nice, I think I would have liked that lifestyle… for a while at least." Leta half smiled.

"Really?" Goku asked as he came to sit up. "What was your life like before you came to Earth? Other than Planet Vegeta."

"Mine?" Leta blinked, "Well… It wasn't easy… I mean, I never went hungry or anything but being on the run is no way to live."

"On the run? I thought all saiyans worked under Frieza...even after he blew the planet up."

Leta shook her head with a frown. "Not all of us… Especially females. He didn't want the few Saiyans he kept around breeding." She sighed, "When Annya found me, I was under attack by some of Frieza's elite. We escaped but everywhere we went, there was the very real threat of his men finding us. Some planets reported us, others didn't. We had no idea if we'd survive our next stop."

"That's how you got so strong," Goku said in understanding as he looked at her. "So it was just the two of you until you came to Earth? Why? Why was Frieza so worried about you having babies?"

"Yeah, pretty much. We came to Earth after we heard Frieza died and that the one who beat him lived there. Obviously a safe place, huh?" Leta shrugged, "I have no idea why he didn't want them breeding, but if I had to guess… he didn't want any more 'monkeys'."

"He really was a monster..."

"You have no idea…" Leta muttered, her frown deepening. All this talk of how she used to live and that tyrant was making her melancholic too.

They sat in silence then, neither sure how to continue while stewing in their own sadness. Leta hated thinking about her life before Earth, she'd preferred to think that her life started then, not when the old home world blew up or even when she was born. She looked at her children; they were starting to tire, their eyes drooping and their mouths wide with yawns. Glancing at Goku, she found him deep in thought, the air around him blue once more. Biting her lip, she came to a decision. She stood and collected the twins and quickly put them to bed. Then she strode back out and grabbed Goku's wrist.

"Let's go."

"Go where?"

"To the training grounds," Leta said.

"What do you want me to teach you?" Goku asked as he picked himself up.

"I don't care, anything." Leta shrugged, "Just teach me something."

Goku nodded as he tried to think about what he could teach her.


	16. Chapter 16

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 16**_

"Let's get ready to rumble!"

The crowd of saiyans, pregnant females and all, roared with excitement from their underground holding. It was a large area but it was still far away from the moon so no one could transform into their Oozaru forms. In the middle of it all was a small group of lower level saiyans who looked all geared up and ready to go.

"Well… this is going to be messy." Leta muttered, arms crossed as she leaned back in her seat.

"Better they beat each other bloody now when all the females are pregnant instead of the next cycle," Annya said as she stood to Leta's side, dressed in her full regalia she'd worn with the Tuffles. "Plus limiting the ki usage allows for us to insure our planet doesn't suffer...assuming they have enough restraint to understand that they like their heads where they are."

"You should build something that restrains ki then." Leta huffed, not happy about being in her formal armor.

"And have the machines break at every turn?" Annya asked with a raised eyebrow. "No thank you. I'd rather cull the weak."

Leta rolled her eyes, not surprised by the response she received.

Below them the fight continued on. Fist met jaw as blood dripped from another's broken nose. They weren't made of saiyans that any one of the main group personally knew themselves. And they displayed the same fighting techniques that were so stereotypical of the lower class. Which was to say that it was rudimentary at best. The fact that Bardock seemed un-amused by such a scrap, despite the fact that it was getting most people's blood racing as they awaited their turns, spoke a thousand words.

"Think I could get away with taking a nap? The twins have been keeping me up all night." Leta whispered to Annya as she fought back a yawn.

Annya shook her head as she whispered back, "The full moon is above us and even this far underground I can still feel it. Even with most gathered here for the fights...it wouldn't be safe for you. "

"What are you whispering about?" Gohan asked as he turned his head to look up at the two girls from his lowered position.

"Gohan, if I take a nap, will you protect me?" Leta asked, her expression tired.

Gohan was about to ask why, but then it registered in his head. He gulped and nodded. He'd spent a year with Annya in the time chamber practicing his control and restraint so he knew he'd have been the best choice...but...well it was awkward. Somehow, prior to her asking, he hadn't even thought about the fact that sleeping might be dangerous for the girls right now.

"Do you think you'd really need...protection?"

"Maybe… Grumpy might get distracted by the first attempts." Leta yawned, "He'll need backup."

"First attempts at what?" King Vegeta asked from his position above Leta.

The sound of a major bone breaking signaled the end of the match as Annya gave the command for it to halt. Just because they were having a fight did not mean she was going to stand for excess force to be used when it wasn't needed. They had plenty of people out there who wanted to kill their species - they didn't need to help them out by brutalizing each other from the inside out too much.

"I wish to nap through the boring rounds." Leta explained, "The lower class may take that as invitation to breed."

King Vegeta grunted in his amusement. "If you were breeding with my son this wouldn't be an issue."

"I already have, hence why I am so tired." Leta frowned, "There is a prince, my work in that aspect is done."

"One prince is a gamble," the King replied as he waved his hand for the next match to start. "Your work is not done until you become barren."

Gohan frowned at that notion. The fact that King Vegeta, who openly seemed more lenient than Annya told him their Kings tended to be, was so sexist didn't sit well with him. And while he could still smell the girls so clearly that...no, he was stopping his thoughts right there. The fact of the matter was that it seemed wrong to him that the girls kept getting told that they were supposed to be pregnant (or attempting to get pregnant) and content with that.

"Come on Leta," Gohan mumbled as he picked himself up into the air, "let's get you to your bed."

King Vegeta grunted, "Such a weakling, bedridden from lack of sleep."

Leta scowled, "Says the one who only _tried_ to save his only son only save his own reputation."

King Vegeta stood up from his seat, his red cape falling into place behind him. His mouth set into a firm line as he fixed his eyes down at her. There was a line people knew not to cross and she had crossed it. Even his own Queen, who hadn't come back with him, had never dared do such a thing in public! Gohan cleared his throat as he kept hovering in the air, drawing his attention away from the rather tired Leta. The younger saiyan simply shook his head with a calm, stilled look to his face. King Vegeta narrowed his eyes on him.

"What boy?" King Vegeta snapped, sounding very much like his son.

"Leave her alone," Gohan as he stared down the King while the fighting below distracted all the lower class saiyans.

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" Okay, so the moon and his own anger had gotten the better of him.

"He is my protector right now, since your son won't join us here." Leta answered, her tone flat.

"My son," King Vegeta said with a bit of aggravation, "takes no pride in the way things are done."

"He takes more pride in who he is than you give him credit for," Annya said in a dull voice. "Him, Goku, and Gohan were not raised with us...but they carry with them the best of us. And I'm sorry to say sir but if you want to push for Gohan to be punished he can and probably will beat the shit out of you as would be his right."

Yeah, her 'take shit' meter was pretty full with moonlight too.

"And you've spoiled my mood to nap," Leta said with a dark frown.

Gohan sat back down, a slight frown on his face.

"Goku and Vegeta should fight." Leta nodded, "That'd be entertaining."

Bardock shook his head as he crossed his arms. "If you tell them that they can't fight things will get messy."

Leta grumbled but she understood the reasoning. Instead she just motioned for Gohan to settle down as she relaxed back into her chair. Annya motioned for Gohan to take a step up so he could stand beside Leta as well. And though Gohan might not have understood that, Bardock did. And he smirked - his family wasn't doing so bad for itself after all.

* * *

"Oh man, I can't wait to see this fight," Goku said with a bit of enthusiasm from his spot not too far away from the 'ring'.

Vegeta snorted from his spot beside Goku, arms crossed.

"Come on, don't tell me you're not excited," the younger of the two said with a big grin.

"It's your father Kakarot, not mine."

"I know."

Vegeta rolled his eyes.

Bardock stepped into the ring as he looked at the competition. It was a handful of saiyans from what was considered the elite class. He rolled his shoulder and cocked his head to the side, stretching out his neck in the process. They didn't look very happy to be in the same ring with him. And he could only guess why. But the fact that he was pissing them off without doing anything yet amused him.

Spitting at their feet the battle began. Like he thought, they all ganged up on him first. Trying to take out what they thought would be the weakest link. But he had survived worse than them before (Dodoria among other things) and he'd get through this one just the same.

Bardock smirked as he dodged, ducked and evaded the barrage of attacks thrown at him by his three opponents. Letting them think they have the upper hand usually makes the fight more entertaining. He could feel his foot hit the edge of the arena, the area that would signal him to have lost the round. Stupid human rule but oh well, his son had brought it up and it wasn't like he was going to dispute it. Bardock grabbed the fist of the other man who came at him, then the other as they battled with each other. He could feel his foot slipping...touching the edge.

Frowning and grunting, Bardock slipped down and let the man's hands go before sweeping his legs out from under him. In quick succession, the other two flew at him, fists poised to take him out. Bardock ducked before rolling back towards the center of the ring. He placed himself in a defensive stance as the three recovered and attacked again.

"That all you got?" Bardock spoke in a gruff tone, chuckling under his breath.

"Cocky git." One of them snorted.

Bardock looked at them, a wild look in his eyes from the thrill of battle. "Cocky huh? At least I can back it up."

With a laugh, another one smirked, "Really? Seem to be running away to me."

Bardock looked between the three of them. Running away? Hell no. He'd never done that in his life. He had the chance to run away when he had the vision about the planet blowing up. But did he? No. He tried to warn his fellow saiyans only to get laughed at.

His head tilted down as he clenched his fist before he raced foreward to put the one who told him he'd been running away in a choke hold. He could feel the strain in his wrist as he tightened his hold on the man, keeping his feet firmly on the ground. The sudden attack stunned the other two momentarily, before their anger over took them. How dare this low class filth attack them! Together, the other two began an onslaught against Bardock.

They weren't pulling any stops anymore which caused Bardock to grin. He always did love a good challenge. And shoving the egotistical assholes a peg down sounded like a good idea to him. If Saiyans rode horses he was pretty sure they were the kind to pick the tallest ones available. Which just meant they had the most room to fall.

The saiyan warrior could feel the force behind their hits as he blocked them with his arms. He volleyed back his own attacks any chance he got. He even knocked one of them back a few feet at one point, holding a broken nose for all of two seconds. The roar of the crowd calling for blood...his blood...pounded away in his ears. He knew that not many (or really any) saiyans rose through the ranks as high as he had. Saiyans were born into certain groups and those groups never changed. He had a feeling he was going to have to hand them all their asses before they understood that he had ascended from his birth level even before his death.

As Bardock faced off against the three elites, one made for what should have been an illegal move. Pain shot up Bardock's spine as one of the elites grabbed his tail. Bardock spun his torso around with a snarl in his voice and on his lips. Bardock pushed his body up as and he turned so the punch he delivered to the side of the man's skull was enough to leave an impression on his skull. The saiyan who grabbed his tail skidded to ground, head out of the ring. The crowd called for his dismissal from the ring and he turned around and glared at the vast majority of them.

Then he felt a tug at his tail, tensing his entire body up in pain. Another tug. Bardock looked back to the man who he'd slammed to the ground pulling at his tail from the floor. And when he went to try and hit him again, the other two "elites" grabbed his arms.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Bardock barked out.

"Putting you in your place!" The elite snarled as he tugged again.

"Are you trying to rip off my tail?" Bardock steamed as he struggled in the hold the other two had him in.

"He does have a brain!" One of the ones holding his arms laughed.

He could hear remarks from the crowd without actually understanding them. Most of the saiyans wanted him to fail. They wanted him to lose his tail. They wanted him to be disgraced. After all he had fucking tried to do for them! He had fought with some of them, fought in the name of the rest of them, and they were upset that he'd gotten as strong as he had. That was bullshit! He'd even destroyed a planet of peaceful people so his planet didn't have to suffer economically. And what had he gotten for that? Visions of his planet being destroyed, visions of his son fighting Frieza, and visions of that same son being killed over and over again! And when he tried to warn people about the first vision they had laughed at him and called him a drunken fool. Fuck that.

The pounding of blood roared in his ears as his heart danced in his chest. Anger welled up inside of him even as he heard for the fight to be called to an end. But he was too far gone to care, much too far.

With a sudden flash, the room lit with violent ki. The three elites in the ring were sent flying into the walls, having been right next to the epicenter. Most of the crowd were frozen stiff, the sudden show of golden power shocking them to their cores. Vegeta and Goku stood by the ring, unaffected by the onslaught, watching with curiosity. Up in the royal stands, King Vegeta simply shook his head while those sitting around him watched in awe as Bardock revealed his untrained Super Saiyan form.

"Oh," Annya said with surprise as her dark eyes widened.

"Oh indeed," Leta commented back as she stared at him.

"That's my dad." Goku muttered with a half smile from his spot next to Vegeta on the ground level.

Vegeta didn't respond, too busy trying to understand how it could be that Bardock could even have become a super Saiyan in the first place.

From his seat, King Vegeta sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose briefly. "I told him not to do that."

"You knew?" Leta asked shocked.

"Goku...Gohan...now Bardock," Annya murmured as she continued to watch the man. "Who's next...Goten?"

King Vegeta grunted in amusement.

"He's the winner right?" Leta asked, still trying to get over the shock of seeing Bardock transform.

"Yes. And the winner of this match was supposed to fight the winner of all matches before him...but..." her eyes weren't leaving the ring, almost like they were fixated on a new anomaly, "in this case I think doing that would be pointless..."

"Very well." King Vegeta nodded, accepting of Annya's decision.

"Come on Leta, let's go crown him for his prowess," was the redhead's comment as she rose into the air, moving forward without changing her standing position.

"Uh-huh…" Leta muttered as she followed, still somewhat in shock.

They landed in the middle of the ring as the other Saiyans started to pick themselves up. Much like how they worked in delayed unison with Gohan back in the tournament, the girls approached Bardock. Annya stood to one side of the pulsing, powered up beast that was Bardock as Leta took another.

"We have our winning combatant!" Annya called out, using one hand on Bardock's upper arm to turn him around with her.

"And has he earned it." Leta added with a big smile.

"Normally the victor would have his choice between any available women!" Annya called out, eliciting baited breath from the females in the group, "But due to the fact that everyone is pregnant this has to be ignored!"

There was a disappointed air around them stemming from the crowd.

"Instead!" Leta followed up, "He will be given the honor of forming his own squad first!"

"Now go home, lick your wounds, and prepare yourselves for the grouping process to come after the full moon is done!"

With murmurs and groans, the stands emptied and the fighters dragged themselves away from the arena. Once they were gone, King Vegeta and Gohan approached the ring, stopping to stand with Goku and Vegeta as Bardock finally powered down. With a quick glance at the two women attached to him, Bardock shrugged and walked over to the group, girls still grasping his arms.

"I didn't know you could go Super Saiyan," Gohan observed with a laugh in his tone before he looked to the two girls with mild concern.

"Yeah, why didn't you tell me?" Goku asked with a small frown.

Bardock shrugged, "I can't control it like you all can."

"We could help you learn to control that," Annya remarked as her tail unwrapped itself from around her hips. "After all...the guys do it all the time with little prompting now...and Leta and I have been witness to it enough."

Leta nodded, "I'm starting to think this Super Saiyan thing is genetic."

Annya nodded as she tilted her head onto his arm, a laugh coming up her throat. "Yes...maybe I should study this family to understand what sets them apart. And as he's first in this line - Bardock would you mind coming back to the lab with me?"

Leta frowned, her fingers trailing down his bicep. "That's boring, I think he'd rather spar with me."

"You want to fight him when he should be reaping the rewards of his win?" Annya asked as her tail sneaked around to tap Bardock's own. "Don't you want to see if he could actually _dominate_ you or are you looking to take away what should be a wondrous night for him?"

"Says miss I'll-never-breed-again." Leta huffed, "And who said the spar wouldn't end with fun?"

"Who ever said anything about breeding? Honestly, spending a full week enjoying what you can teach one another without having pregnancy to tamper with your responses is so much better than becoming a parent after one day. Don't you think so Bardock?" Annya questioned with a mischievous smirk that Leta couldn't see. "Besides don't you have to ask your zeyato for permission, Leta?"

Goku crossed his arms over his chest with a calm expression on his face, trying to understand what was going on in front of him. He was glad that his father was getting stronger but at the same time seeing the girls clinging to him was rather annoying. He knew they were in heat, and he tried to ignore that scent, but watching them clinging to his father...touching him...he didn't want to ignore that. But it was his father so he was in a bit of a contradicting situation here much as the same to what Gohan was going through himself.

Vegeta, however, seemed to not have such a conflicting mind set as he growled deep in his throat.

Leta scoffed, "That little tail-less boy has no authority over me."

Bardock smirked despite the fact that both his son and Vegeta (the prince) were glaring at him. For the first time since his revival he felt like a true elite. Sure he was used to fighting off men for the women he wanted at any given period, but he'd never had women fighting over him. And it was the Princess and General none the less.

"Let's just go," Bardock said in a pseudo gruff tone as he tried to quell the excitement that raced through him.

Both girls smiled before responding at the same time "Okay."

With a smirk, Bardock began to leave, the girls still clinging and bickering between each other.

"Oh my, feels just like I don't try," Bardock started to sing as he looped an arm around each girl's waist, feeling their tails play with his own. "Looks so good I might die."

"All I know is everybody wants me." He smirked as he glanced back over his shoulder.

The guys all stood behind him, fuming in their own way for various reasons. Could he help that the girls wanted to sleep with him and not them? He'd tried to tell his son before - be a saiyan and be bold.

"Head down, swaying to my own sound," Bardock murmured as he turned his attention back to where they were going down the hall, his hand kneading each girl's hip as though it were being done to a beat. "Flashes in my face now..."

"All I know is everybody wants me. Everybody wants me!"


	17. Chapter 17

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 17**_

Leta seemed to be twice her size as she stormed into the throne room late at night. But even as late as it was, there were still plenty of people wide awake. Namely Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, King Vegeta, and Annya. All of whom seemed to be discussing where Vegeta and Goku should have their spar as they didn't want to damage the natural resources they had on this planet.

"Thank god I'm pretty," Leta snarled, music sounding off around her.

The venom in her voice caught everyone's attention.

"The occasional free drink I never asked for," She rolled her eyes, "the occasional admission to a seedy little bar, invitation to a stranger's car." She clenched her fists, "I'm blessed! With the ability to rend a grown man tongue tied." She glared, her eyes filled with fire.

"Thank god!"

"Leta…" Goku muttered, voicing the group's joint confusion.

"Oh! Oh! And when a gaggle of faces appears around me, it's lucky I hate to be taken seriously!" Sarcasm dripped from her voice at that line. "I think my ego would fall right through the cracks in the floor if I couldn't count on men to slap my ass anymore!" Leta practically roared, her eyes almost red with anger.

"Thank god I'm pretty!" With that, she and her aura of death stomped out.

The room was quiet as they stared at the retreating princess, her tail whipping back and forth in anger. No one was exactly sure where that anger had come from. The last thing they knew was that Annya had come back saying that the Princess wanted to be alone with her Army General, a smirk on her face. Vegeta had fumed, and Vegeta had steamed...but he had been distracted by Goku who had started to talk about sparing. It was this conversation that Leta had come in on in, practically growling out a song as she stormed through the room.

"What the hell is her problem?" Bardock asked as he clenched his fists, walking into the room with visible damage on his person.

"What did you do?" King Vegeta sighed, not out of annoyance more out of pity.

Gohan leaned over towards Annya, "You don't think…"

Annya smirked, "More than likely."

"All I did was grab her ass!" Bardock defended, "She got a bloody nice one so I grabbed it! Then she beat me up! Women are crazy!"

King Vegeta chuckled under his breath as he stared at his bare chested (and bruised) friend. "To women it is not a compliment to grab their ass."

Goku and Bardock both didn't seem to fully understand that way of thinking as they mirrored the same confused expression. For Goku he wasn't sure why Leta was so upset if something about her had fascinated his father. And for Bardock he wasn't sure why Leta didn't find his approval of her hind quarters a compliment. He'd only meant to see what he would have been cushioning for later on and he meant to show her his appreciation for it!

"They're stupid then!" Bardock barked.

"You basically just told her that you only like her for her body," Gohan said in a tired voice.

"Well yeah!"

"Women prefer to be liked for more than simply breeding." King Vegeta snorted, having already had this conversation with Bardock many times.

"That's stupid," Bardock grumbled. "They're good at other things too - like fighting. Fasha can out fight just about everyone else I've worked with! But we weren't fighting, we were about to fuck."

Vegeta's jaw clenched, not liking how the general was talking.

"That does not matter." King Vegeta crossed his arms.

"It should. Cause now I'm horny with no female," Bardock grumbled as his eyes turned over to Annya.

"You could always have Shanagans," Goku said with a straight face shocking everyone in the room.

Everyone in the room stared at Goku blankly as no one was completely sure he knew what he was insinuating.

* * *

The next day had come though it had soothed over no one's wounds from the prior day. The moon was still in its full rotation, the last day before the two way leeway on the end. The group had taken breakfast separately as they tried to cool off their own tempers. But then a messenger had come to collect them all to tell them they were needed in the throne room. When each of the important members of the counsel had gotten there (King Vegeta, Prince Vegeta, Leta, Annya, Bardock, Goku and Gohan) the site before them couldn't have been more shocking.

Paragus stood there, looking as though he had years of stress taken out of his features. He was in the physical form when Broly was but a young teenager, before all the scars were gifted to him. But there was one thing that belayed the fact that this wasn't a person from the past - he had kept that strange mustache of his.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Vegeta snarled.

"Now Prince," Paragus said with a bit of a sarcastic tone while his eyes drifted over to Annya. "I have a message for everyone."

In his hands was an orb that looked as though it were filled with purple smoke. The group glared at him as he raised the orb above his head before smashing it against the ground. Smoke filled the room, causing the individuals there to cover their noses as they tried to avoid chocking on it. They each wanted to rush after the man who had done such a thing but it felt like they had been paralyzed until the smoke dissipated. Then in the middle there was this image of two cloaked figures in the place where Paragus had been. And between them was a 3D image of Chichi who looked as though she had survived weeks of being tormented and starved.

Goku and Gohan stiffened at the sight.

_**"You don't have much time left if you want to save her. Come face us if you dare."**_

With that, the image cleared, revealing that Paragus was gone.

Gohan shook a little as he clenched his fist. He didn't care if they'd been going through a rough spot. He didn't care how much she'd hurt him and Goten with her fear. That was his mother. And they had her. He looked down at Annya when she put her hand on his arm, her bracelet jingling a little.

"Go get her."

Goku turned to look at her and Gohan as he nodded. "We will. Where do you think they are?"

Leta snorted, "On Earth no doubt."

Goku nodded, his expression determined. "Alright, who's ready to go to Earth?"

"I'm coming," Gohan said in a calm, steel voice.

"If these are the fools who have been making us sing, then they deserve to die," Vegeta voiced, indicating that he was going.

Leta rolled her eyes, not surprised.

"Wait wait!" Goten called out as he flew in the room, uncovering his and Trunk's hiding position from behind the red tapestry. "I'm coming too!"

Goku nodded as he put his hand on Gohan's shoulder while Goten grabbed onto his pants. Even Vegeta reached over to touch Goku's shoulder, standing as far away from him as he possibly could. Goku reached his open hand out towards Leta and Annya, frowning when Leta shook her head and Annya almost seemed to flinch back from him.

"You two don't want to come?"

"This is your thing Goku." Leta said, voice neutral. "Go be happy."

Goku smiled lightly and nodded. "Yeah."

He pulled his hand back up and positioned his two fingers his forehead. Then like many times before, he and the group blinked out as they transported to Earth.

"That boy is hopeless." Leta sighed as she shook her head. "Now… where did the pedo-stache go?"


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N:** Thank you for all the loyal reviewers and I wanted to take this time to (vaguely) answer any concern we can from the tenth chapter and up. This isn't a complete list of course...but the trends we've seen happening. They'll be at the bottom of the chapter.

* * *

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 18**_

Goku and the rest of the Earth bound crew landed in the middle of Satan City. It was eerily quiet as they looked around, the feeling of a place that had been forgotten surrounded them. The buildings were still maintained so obviously people hadn't been gone for that long. But it still had the sense that something had been ripped from the world.

"Where's everybody?" Goten asked, confused.

"Wait… that's right! I forgot to mention it," Gohan admitted, "I saw the people leaving the city before we went to Planet New Saiya…"

"Why didn't you mention something before this boy?" Vegeta snapped.

"Relax Vegeta. What's done is done. Let's just find these things and show them why you don't mess with Earth, okay?" Oh, there was definitely the excitement for a fight shining through Goku.

Vegeta grunted, still angry but now also itching for a fight. "Fine! Let's just find them."

"And save my mom!" Goten added in.

"Yeah, we'll save mom too squirt," Gohan replied as he started to look around, trying to sense anything out of the normal beyond the fact that there were missing people. And then it hit him. "They took Videl."

"Huh?" Goku asked, not following Gohan's train of thought.

Gohan smirked despite the fact that he was angry. Out of everyone in Satan City, they shouldn't have taken her. For him, her energy was easy to sense. And he was sure that they had been counting on them tracking his mother, which would have been an obvious choice, but they probably stationed her where they wanted them to be. Not where they needed to be.

"I know where the people are, follow me." Gohan nodded in the direction he sensed Videl.

The funny thing was that he was flying through the city to where the housing districts were. And when he landed it was in front of a giant gate that enclosed Hercule Satan's house. With narrowed eyes, Gohan pushed the gate open (forgoing the need of stealth as it flung off the hinges) and continued down the path with Goten, Goku, and Vegeta following him.

* * *

"Annya...what...have you done?" Leta hissed as she looked at the scene before her.

It was almost familiar in a way. Annya was backed up against the untransformed wall of muscle that was her son. He looked rather platonically calm like he would never snap and kill them without thinking about it. But Leta knew better. She knew how hard, near impossible really, it would be for the other's to defeat him. Even if the last fight they had wouldn't have triggered his power spike, he would still be a force to reckon with on a good day.

"We need to be protected, Leta," Annya said, "the moon is still full and the guys have all left."

"That thing is still male!" Leta said with a snarl as she pointed to the two of them.

"Oddly enough he seems to have a lot of restraint with our heat," was her response.

"Annya…" Leta growled, "The king won't be as merciful as me when he sees this."

Broly's grip around Annya tightened as she tried to placate him. The bracelet on her wrist fell down as she lifted her hand up above her to touch the underside of her son's jaw. It was a moment before she was able to look back to Leta, trembling a little from unknown emotional forces. Unknown in the sense that while her eyes were a bit frantic, and her body was trembling every so lightly, there was none of that in her voice.

"He won't be happy. But let's face it Leta...even if he managed to get me alone I could whip out most of the other fighters here. He is King because those who are strong enough, us, do not have a better substitution."

"Annya… you know that isn't the problem here." Leta scowled, "The problem is when the others come back… And that the slimeball is running around here somewhere… What about Bardock?!"

"Bardock..." Annya contemplated as her hand slipped down from Broly's cheek, "I...I don't know how that will play out. Seeing him die...it would be a shame. It would be a shame to see any other saiyan die."

"Who is Bardock?" Broly finally spoke up as he looked out towards Leta, an uncertain expression on his face.

"The general of the army." Leta bit out, trying not to let her anger towards the monster show in her voice.

"I don't want to deal with the army," Broly said as he continued to stare at her as he spoke what he was pretty sure was the truth.

Honestly he didn't care too much about killing anyone in general. Not when he was placated and calm. There were only a few things that could set him off - Goku being on the top most reasons of course, but then he also didn't like anyone threatening him or his mother in any way. It was the times when he'd snap and become a vicious killing machine that everyone had to worry about. And considering how many Goku look-a-likes there were currently running around there was a chance of that happening.

"He bears a strong resemblance to Kakarot." Leta said, her body tense.

Broly narrowed his eyes at the very idea. "Kakarot..."

"Relax son, relax," Annya replied as she bit her lip subtly from the inside, her tail attempting to wrap around his waist but failing before she redirected it to his arm in an attempt to sooth him.

"I do not like him," Broly explained in a somewhat dark voice.

"Hence why I am concerned for our General's safety." Leta sighed.

"Broly is able to keep himself under control," the most of the time was implied in her voice as she looked up at him for confirmation.

Broly nodded his head lightly, his face reflecting a sense of vulnerability that, knowing the levels he was capable of, seemed out of place on him.

"King Vegeta hated me when I was born and tried to kill me. Do you really hate me as much as he does?" Broly asked still holding onto his mother with one arm as though she were a giant stuffed animal.

"The king does not hate." Leta growled as she left the room, "the same cannot be said for me."

Broly didn't seem to be effected by that but Annya did. And she practically flinched, an emotional reaction she rarely ever displayed.

"He is a saiyan just like the rest of us Leta, he deserves to be here just as much as you or I."

"The only place for that monster is in the deepest pits of hell," Leta muttered as she continued out of the door, her voice edged with fiery ice.

"You are cruel and short sighted," Annya replied in a whisper as she stepped out of Broly's hold. "We will leave...and I wish you luck figuring out all my notes on how to sustain this planet."

With that, Leta left Annya and Broly to their own devices.

* * *

"Deception…"

"Disgrace…"

Annya and Broly walked down what had become the main living street of the New Saiya. It sprouted off of the palace, each house blending into the next as there were no break between them. But there were open roofs on the adobe brick like buildings where the saiyans could sit, float, stand, or otherwise do whatever they wanted. Right now they were lined up in a line, singing and pounding their face to the musical beat while Broly and Annya continued on to the space ship at the end.

"Evil as plain as the look on his face."

"Deception… an outrage!"

"Disgrace!"

"For shame!"

"He asked for trouble the moment he came!"

"See you later, agitator!"

Annya closed her eyes tightly as she continued to walk. Everything in her wanted to snap at these people who had no idea of what they were talking about. Broly pulled her in closer as they continued to walk. These people meant nothing to him so the fact that he was leaving meant nothing. But his mother had grown up living with a society of different saiyans, had grown up being accepted.

"Born in grief, raised in hate! Helpless to defy his fate! Let him run, let him live, but do not forget what we cannot forgive!"

"He is not one of us! He has never been one of us! He is not part of us! Not our kind!"

"Someone once lied to us, now we're not so blind! For we knew he would do what he's done and we know that he'll never be one of us!"

The two walking on the road stopped only when they left the housing units behind. The spaceship that she'd taken to get to the planet stood before them. Paragus stood in the doorway with a small smile on his face. If it wasn't for the fact that the very sight of him made Annya's skin crawl she might have thought it was a nice change from the scorn they were getting on the walk over.

"Come on General Annya," Paragus said as he held out his hand, "we will find a new place. As a family."

* * *

"He is not… one of us…" Leta muttered to herself as she paced around the twins room, her children safely in her arms.

Footsteps, hurried as though they were running, caught her attention right before Bardock pulled a halt. He looked mildly perturbed like someone had hid his favorite toy.

"Found the slug like you wanted," Bardock spoke up, ignoring proper protocol.

"And?" She grunted, her focus on the sleeping bundles in her arms.

"He left the planet during one of the song and dance numbers," Bardock responded in a bit of a pissed off mood. "He took two other saiyans with him."

"Who?"

"My son's redhead and her powerhouse of a son," Bardock grumbled.

Leta paused mid-step, her eyes wide. "What…"

"Yeah. Damn, what did you say to her? I mean even I heard about how much she hated her zeyato," Bardock grunted as his rather disturbed tone continued.

"No, that couldn't have been her. There has to be another redheaded saiyan you just confused her with," Leta said with denial clear in her tone.

"Nope. Redhead, still in heat, with the wall of muscle clinging to her looking ready to rip people in half."

Leta bit her lip as her pacing resumed, her steps hurried out of panic. "This… this isn't right… nothing I said would have made her turn to that git."

"Yeah well she did. And she left with him on a ship. Now I'm never going to get my grandbabies."

"Bardock!" Leta barked, anger edging her voice.

"What?" he asked, crossing his arms and looking at her. "I tried stopping this a few days ago. Damned woman's too stubborn. If she got pregnant she wouldn't have left with the slimeball."

"That isn't it." Leta scowled, the gears in her head turning.

"Then what is it?"

Leta, twins still in hand, stormed out of the room, "Let's go."

* * *

"Videl!" Gohan yelled out as he found her.

Gohan rushed over while the others stayed behind. But when he reached her she didn't seem to respond. In fact there was almost a lifeless look to her eyes as she stood among a crowd. Some familiar faces from around the town, some people he'd never seen before. But all of them had the same blank expressions on their faces.

"Videl...Videl," he tried shaking her, making sure to keep in mind his strength, "Come on...this isn't funny."

Despite his efforts, she continued staring blankly ahead, as if she were brain dead.

* * *

(Chapter 11) - **What's eating Annya?** Like Goku, she finds her life changing too quickly for her to adapt to as quickly.

(Chapter 12 and onward) - **Character pairings? **We are not trying to force anyone together so much as explore different outlets in which to avoid "perfect" relationships. But we try to take into consideration what everyone else likes seeing based on what they know of the characters. So vote, vote vote with reasons why and ideas and it might...inspire us!

(Chapter 12) - **Bardock's attitude towards grandbabies?** Don't worry, he's not trying to turn into a male Chichi...part of his reasons are hinted at in here and the rest shall be revealed.

(Chapter 13) -** Where is Gohan?** ...good question. Gohan, Gohan! Where did you go?

(Chapter 13) - **What's up with Chichi?** She's playing her part for the plot.

(Chapter 15) -** Goku's happiness?** Oh one way or another we'll make sure he gets his happy ending! He deserves it no doubt. And so does Gohan. Vegeta...meh.

(Chapter 17) - **Chapter Length?** They're bouncing back and forth. We always strive to write five pages worth at the very least...but how many words that turns out as varies.


	19. Chapter 19

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 19**_

Gohan shook Videl as much as he could without snapping her in half while Vegeta scowled all over the place. Goku looked concerned but otherwise he didn't say much - the closest he'd come to this situation before all of this was when Garlic Jr. used the mist from the lookout. And then it wasn't like they were unresponsive when that happened like these people were.

"Videl! Come on this isn't funny...fight through this," Gohan said in a quiet voice.

A laugh filled the room, seemingly echoing from all corners. Gohan stopped shaking Videl and stood back up to look around.

"You are wasting your energy, foolish Saiyan."

Vegeta growled in his frustration. "Is everyone so afraid of what I'll do to them that they can't show their faces?"

"So boastful!" The voice laughed, "And yet you dance to our spell."

"You're the ones that orchestrated it all then?" Gohan asked to the unseen enemies. "Why? What purpose did it serve?"

"Purpose?" The voice snorted.

"What did you gain from all of this?" Goku rephrased in a serious tone, motioning around to all the human beings (and animal beings) that were trapped inside of their minds. "Why make us sing? Why collect the people of Earth?"

"To put it in the simplest terms, Saiyan, our purpose is to possess complete control over the inhabitants of this planet and the new Saiyan home world by extension."

"You going to make us sing ourselves to death?" Vegeta snorted.

A shadow of a person appeared before them, hooded and small. The voice that followed after this image seemed to hone in on the figure until it sounded like it was coming from it.

"Yes, you silly monkey. You see, while you are singing we've been getting inside your mind...splitting your strength from the inside out. And like the fools that you are, you let us!"

The truth left the group stunned. Smoke filled the room like it had when Paragus smashed the communication orb. When it faded out the two cloaked figures, looking made more of shadows than anything else, stood before them.

"So you think you have friends in high places and the power to put us on the run?" The voices asked in unison as music filled the room as though it had every right to be there.

"Well, forgive us these smiles on our faces." Laughter all but dripped from that line. "You'll know what power is when we are done."

Vegeta growled and light flickered from his palms before he shot out energy. It spiraled right towards them, looking to be a perfect hit until a black hole like thing popped out. His energy slid right into that as the music picked up. Humans all around them seemed to jump into action, moving towards the walls and making a type of inner hallway to designate the saiyan's area.

"You're playing with the big boys now," the two cloaked figures sang right before Vegeta found himself engulfed by the energy he'd sent out a moment prior.

"Playing with the big boys now… Every spell and gesture tells you who's the best." They continued, "You're playing with the big boys now."

"Stop singing!" Vegeta practically roared and started forward.

Except he was stopped. Not by the saiyans, no, but by a swarm of humans that had thrown themselves at him. Vegeta started to raise his hand with a ball of ki wrapped tightly around his fist until Goten jumped out and grabbed his arm with practically his whole body.

"You can't do that Mr. Vegeta!" Goten said desperately. "You'll hurt them!"

Vegeta snarled at the boy, his frustration urging him to disregard the humans around him.

"Playing with the big boys now… playing with the big boys now! Stop this foolish mission and watch a true magician give an exhibition now!"

The humans around Vegeta moved out of the way and started to scream out in pain. It was like they were being strangled from the inside out and no matter what Goten, Gohan, or Goku did they couldn't stop the pain. Then suddenly they went quiet again, a serene look over their face as they bowed before the two figures.

"Playing with the big boys now," The two shadowy figures weaved back and forth with each other, almost feeling as though there wasn't a true end or beginning to either of them. "Playing with the big boys now!"

"By the might of Norris you will kneel before us! Kneel to our splendorous power," the shadows all around them danced as the lighting inside of the house shifted to something more sinister as Vegeta's body started to twitch. "You put up a front, you put up a fight!"

"And just to show we feel no spite, you can be our slave tonight! But first, boy, it's time to bow!"

Vegeta's body twitched and he grunted in pain. Sweat dripped down his brow as his legs started to buckle. Something inside of him was telling him to just do what they wanted, that it wouldn't be so bad. Vegeta gripped his head and pulled at his hair, his power flaring all around him as he powered up.

"Or it's your own grave you'll dig boy. You're playing with the big boys now!"

A light illuminated the area as a very loud "Ha!" filled the room instead of the two figure's song.

The sudden blast of the Kamehameha taking out one of the cloaked figures caused the very air to snap. Almost like a clap of thunder, the spell was broken. People all around them seemed to turn slack as they fell to the floor, unable to hold their position as they collapsed. One of the figures tried to make a run for it with what little remaining strength they had before Gohan shot his palm out and blasted it into nonexistence.

"You fools!" The remaining cloaked figure said as they staggered from their spot. "You might send us back to our death but we have still won! The women-"

"We will find Chichi," Goku said to cut him off.

The raspy last laugh of the figure seemed haunted. "Who said we cared about having the human women? No...the queen has the person we wanted under her control now and it's just a matter of time bef-"

Vegeta didn't seem to have the patience to hear any more as he finished the poor soul off.

"Vegeta!" Goku scolded.

"Don't start with me, Kakarot!" The prince snarled.

"We need to go," Gohan said in a still voice as he walked over to Videl and helped her stand up. "Mom is not here and we have to get back to New Saiya to find out who's been taken."

Videl pushed weakly against Gohan's shoulder. "Don't think you're le-leaving me here."

"Videl…" Gohan hesitated, "The gravity on New Saiya would crush you."

Even in her weak state, Videl tried to scuff at him but only ended up making herself cough. It was obvious that she was dehydrated.

"Yeah right," Videl protested. "You're just trying to leave me behind. There's no way that some place has different gravity than the rest of the world."

"New Saiya is a different planet." Gohan frowned, "You need to stay here and recover."

"No, I'm coming," Videl said stubbornly as she switched tactics. "Look what happened the last time I let you leave without me."

"Videl, you can't… Even if you could withstand the gravity, you're too weak right now. Please, stay here and rest… take care of Earth while we're gone."

"Can we stop clucking like hens and get on with it? You, women, will stay on Earth and that's final. We have other things to worry about than what would happen to you with the full moon," Vegeta said in a harsh tone.

* * *

The flicker of Instant Transmission brought the debate between Leta and King Vegeta to a halt. They along with Bardock watched with grim expressions as the group that went to Earth appeared in the throne room.

"Hi guys," Goku said with a wave. "We took care of the singing problem."

"Goku, that is the least of our worries." Leta crossed her arms, her voice deep with agitation.

"What happened?" Gohan asked.

"Did Broly escape?" Goku tilted his head to the side, his expression innocent.

"No she-" Leta stopped and narrowed her eyes in on him. "Wait, you knew he was alive?"

Goku nodded solemnly, "Well yeah. She didn't want to kill her son."

"Regardless…" Leta sighed out of frustration. "He didn't escape, she set him free."

"So where are they?" Goten asked from his spot in front of Gohan.

"That is the problem," Bardock grumbled gruffly. "Redhead left with her son and the slimeball."

"Why? She hates him." Goku pouted.

"That is what we are discussing." King Vegeta sighed.

"Goku… you said Paragus used mind control on Broly, right?" Leta asked, a scowl marring her face.

"Yes," Goku answered as he thought back on it. "But when Broly got too angry his control over him snapped. It had something to do with the piece of jewelry that Paragus wore over his hand."

"The bracelet," Gohan said quietly. "She's been wearing a bracelet since she came to New Saiya."

"Huh… guess that'd be one reason to leave with him." Bardock scoffed.

"I don't know if it was for him she left," Gohan said as he thought about it. "Those wizards mentioned something about a queen..."

King Vegeta's eyes narrowed.

Goten nodded rapidly. "Yeah that's right they did! Before Mr. Vegeta blasted him away."

"Again, not our most pressing concern." Leta rolled her eyes.

Vegeta grunted, "So what do you want us to do? Go get the woman back? Why not to leave her to Paragus?"

"Don't say that," Gohan said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Goku shook his head as he looked towards Vegeta. "You can stay here if you don't want to face Broly. But I'm going to go get her and make sure she's okay."

Vegeta snorted, as if he'd allow himself to be left behind again.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: **Hi guys, I know it's been a really is no excuse. To try and make up for this absence I have decided to post up what we have written so far as Chapter 20. Yeah, it's a little shorter than usual (at only 4 pages on word) but I thought that it was better than nothing. At the bottom is a chapter by chapter summery of Of Moons and Tails. A chapter by chapter summery of Fire and Blood will be edited in soon so be on the lookout.

* * *

**Of Fire and Blood**

_**Chapter 20**_

"Damn you Kakarot," Vegeta said with a malicious tone as he stared up at the taller ally. "You have a half baked plan to get back the women...and instead of instant transmitting to her, you drag us all along...make a pit stop at Earth...and now you can't_ sense _her?"

"No, it's like she vanished." Goku said, the seriousness of the situation keeping him from pouting.

"Careful Goku, you're starting to sound like Vegeta," Leta remarked with a half smirk and laugh, despite (or maybe because of) the confusion her observation caused.

"Leta?" Goku asked, his face clearly displaying in confusion, "I don't sound like Vegeta."

"Focus!" Bardock barked.

"Alright. Look...Last time Broly was with Paragus he was causing destruction. So maybe if we try to follow a trail of destruction, we'll find them," Goku reasoned.

"You heard him, Gohan." Leta turned to the teen at the controls, "Find the trail of misery, pain and death."

Gohan sighed as he looked down at her. "First...I don't know how to fly a spaceship. Second, I don't think you _can_ follow a trail like that."

"Of course you can, how do you think Annya and I avoided planets owned by Frieza?"

"Then why don't you do it?" Vegeta snapped, fed up at the procrastinating as they orbited Earth.

Leta glared out of the corner of her eye, "The same could be said to you."

"This was not my idea women! I'm only here to put a stop to all this Legendary Super Saiyan nonsense."

"Because you were such a big help the last time." Leta scoffed as she turned back to Gohan.

Vegeta glared at the obstinate woman in front of him. How dare she insinuate that he wasn't strong enough to take care of himself! She had no right with all the fuss she'd put up about being used as a distraction against that monster. Really, that was the best she could offer in that situation - such an undignified position for someone who was supposed to be the princess of saiyans. The fact that she turned her back on him didn't help matters either.

"Wo-"

Gohan cut him off, "Guys, I think something is coming through the transmissions...it sounds weak."

"Move it." Leta grunted as she pushed Gohan away from the controls.

He almost wasn't quick enough moving from his spot. At least that's how she made it seem. Either she was just as fed-up with the situation as Vegeta was, or she was just as anxious as his father. Gohan really wasn't sure how to read the situation other than the fact that something was finally getting done.

"If you can amplify it using Earth's satellites...I'm sure we could get a code from Bulma," Gohan offered up.

"Don't need it," Leta said as she turned into the frequency with what seemed like practiced ease.

"But…" Gohan started.

"Signals too weak out here," Leta scowled before turning to the engine controls. "Need to move farther out."

Gohan nodded in understanding and went to join where his dad and grandfather (... it felt odd calling someone who didn't look older than his already young looking father, grandfather) were. What they were discussing must have been happening over just a passing of looks because when Bardock smirked Gohan felt utterly lost. He looked at Goku subtly to try and get some context clues but it took a minute to connect Bardock's smirk to Goku's serious expression. And when he got it Gohan felt like falling over. Really? Was Bardock that determined to have grandchildren?

"Anything yet, woman?" Vegeta grunted in agitation.

Leta didn't pay him any mind as she continued to steer the ship and play with the frequency of their radio, trying to key into the transmission.

"So why are we following this transmittion?" Bardock grumbled as he peeked one eye open from his resting point.

"Because it's probably a distress call and where ever Broly goes there's distress," Gohan explained for what had to have been the fifth time.

"Pointless." Bardock grunted, for the fifth time.

"Enough," King Vegeta called from his place near the controls, "We are hunting, one cannot hunt without a trail."

"Wanna bet?" Bardock grumbled, earning him a light glare from the king.

"Ah-ha!" Leta exclaimed with a smile, "Now to put it on screen."

When she figured how to put the transmission onto the small video screen that the ship (once Vegeta's prized gravity chamber remade) had, the group quieted down. Lines of static ran through the image to distort what was left. But the image of a being was still easily able to be seen. It didn't look human so much as one of those weird bobble head like figures people put in the dashboard of their vehicals. The head, where the mouth was at least, was oval shaped and oversized for it's small body. The eyes jutted out from the top of it's head as though to get better vision.

"It's squishy looking," Bardock remarked as they watched the image without sound for a minute. "Where's the voice?"

"I'm working on it," Leta griped.

With a few more turned knobs and pushed buttons, sound finally accompanied the squishy on the screen. It was hard to understand for a moment until a program activated and started to translate what the creature was saying. What was most prominent were the sounds of destruction in the background. And the white words appeared on the bottom of the screen to depict what words they could translate.

_**Came in ships...destroy...evil...help...death...**_

"This is pointless!" Vegeta snarled, his patience at its end.

"Just shut up." Leta frowned before focusing back on the transmission.

The signal cut off with one last word: _**transform.**_

"That has to be them," Goku said firmly. "Where was that transmission coming from?"

"North-west of here," Leta said as she looked back at the data being displayed on the screen.

"That's the direction of New Namek..." Gohan's mouth opened a little. "You don't think Annya would really go after the namekian dragonballs do you?"

"Best lead we've got." Bardock grunted, "Set our course."

Leta rolled her eyes before doing just that.

* * *

The green skies held no clouds to hide the multiple suns that the planet was balanced between. And much like the prior Namekian planet the suns were much weaker than the one Earth rotated around. But it filled the planet with light and warmth. Which was not currently helping the residents at the last.

"oof," one of the Namekian's said as their knees were forced to the ground.

"Will you not give me the password?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Many people have come to this planet looking to use our dragonballs. And the last one who came to try to force us into giving them to him met with an untimely death."

"I am nothing like Frieza."

"Not in my eyes…"

An auburn tail wrapped tightly around a feminine waist as she debated the pros and cons of making a show of power. On one hand she didn't want to waste life because if people didn't respond it would be pointless. On the other hand if someone did respond then she'd finally get what she always wanted. Somewhere to belong...safety.

"I have come to you in relative peace. I have taken only what is needed and nothing more. And I wish to use your species' asset in order to eliminate a danger to you, your people, and the known universe. And you still refuse for the sake of tradition," Annya spoke slowly as she lowered herself down to look directly into their eyes, "Who is more like a tyrant between you and I?"

The Namekian simply glared.

"The Earth's guardian Dende-"

"What have you done to him?" The Namekian fumed.

"I've done nothing to harm him. I simply couldn't wait for his help. You see, the dragonballs of Earth had already been used to help save the planet and need time to recharge."

"How do you know that?"

Annya raised her eyebrow as she stood up, "Who do you think helped to keep Earth alive long enough for a solution to be found?"

"You're lying."

"She's not," a new voice entered the situation, causing Annya to stiffen from head to toe but didn't look around to see the new arrival.

"Goku," The kneeling namekian said in surprise.

Said Saiyan walked forward, his expression serious.

* * *

The following is a summary of everything that has happened in this series chapter by chapter.

**Of Moons and Tails**

Chapter 1: The Z-fighters (males) go to an Onsen where they meet Leta for the first time.

Chapter 2: Leta meets Bulma back in the city while Vegeta tries to come to term with who she really is.

Chapter 3: Gohan's training session with Videl is interrupted when Leta shows up. And when Leta meets Chichi, she doesn't leave the best impression by biting Gohan.

Chapter 4: Leta has a mysterious meeting with someone on top of a branch. The next day after being confronted with the fact that Vegeta left Trunks with Leta, Bulma passes out at work. Annya reveals herself as not-so-human in order to get Bulma back to her home.

Chapter 5: Annya and Leta deliver blood packets for Bulma to the group while they're at Chichi's house. The conversation about Zeyatos doesn't go over very well with Chichi. Leta worries over the fact that Vegeta doesn't have his tail which causes Trunks to admit he thought Leta was his aunt.

Chapter 6: Trunks is corrected about who Leta is in relationship to his Father. The girls reveal that they will not be fighting in the tournament but will still be there. The day of the tournament and Goku comes back to life after seven years of being dead while the girls are in the first day of their heat.

Chapter 7: Videl's match doesn't go so well for her so the girls try to "advise" him on how to comfort her. Which was very much heat-influenced.

Chapter 8: Gohan's power raises and he gets sucked on by a weird teapot because of it. And while he's passed out the Supreme Kai is revealed.

Chapter 9: Goku and Vegeta follow the Supreme Kai in order to see what's going on. The Tuffles have used Gohan's energy to launch and accelerate their virus. To try and get the Z-fighters back up by transferring some of their blood to them. When Goku and Vegeta gets back the saiyans have a dominance orientated feast. Gohan got hugged by Annya who used the contact and the fact that he was affected by their heat to arouse him and pull out his tail.

Chapter 10: Goku has explained what the Supreme Kai told them. After the girls leave for the night, Goku goes to find Gohan huddled under a waterfall. They found out that his tail wasn't so easy to remove this time. Later that night, Goten and Trunks found Leta and Annya suffering from an incomplete heat-day and the call of the moon.

Chapter 11: (heat day two). Goku heads back to the Other World and tells them not to wish him back right away. When Videl storms in demanding a cure, she finds out that Gohan, most of his family, and the girls are Aliens/Saiyans.

Chapter 12: Gohan followed after Videl and they have a mini heart-to-heart. When he comes back he finds the girl and Vegeta laying on an oversized examination table naked. He is made to lay down with them so Bulma can figure out some physiological difference between saiyans and humans. In the processes, Vegeta gets a little horny and focuses on Let while Annya tries to make it as painless as possible for Gohan who is affected by the girls. The difference of Saiyan blood verses human blood is revealed.

Chapter 13: It's time to collect the dragonballs because Goku is ready to come back. Annya seeks out Gohan and explained to him the saiyan heat cycle and asked for his help with Leta and Vegeta. Leta offered them all Cake or Death.

Chapter 14: Broly appears and it is revealed that Annya is actually his mother. When Annya is able to get him to leave Bulma's house Leta lectures her about getting attached to offspring. Which of course doesn't go over well with Chichi.

Chapter 15: Bulma and Gohan talk about Videl. Vegeta is sick of Leta hanging around him so approaches Annya to get her to leave him alone, she says no and he punches her. Leta reveals she knows where the last dragonball is.

Chapter 16: Bulma, Vegeta, and Leta go to the moon to get the last dragonball. They get back to Earth and wish Goku back with the first wish. The second wish was used to stop the spread of the virus. Goku took a while to get back to them...and he brought an angry Broly with him.

Chapter 17: Fight with Broly. Annya throws Leta at him as a distracted before putting him to sleep. Leta goes to Vegeta for comfort. Leta orders Annya to destroy her son.

Chapter 18: They talk about brining the Saiyans back. Leta has a heart to heart with Vegeta about how disappointed she was with him.

Chapter 19: Gohan and Videl skip part of school before they get into a small fight. Annya and Gohan talk about what random things for the future. A week later, Leta is found playing with the kids while Vegeta reflects on Leta's words.

Chapter 20: Goku invites Leta back to his house for dinner but Chichi isn't happy about that, forcing them to have dinner out in the woods. Annya inspires Bulma to have a breakthrough.

Chapter 21: Bulma and Annya explain their radical cure idea to the group. Goku is made aware of the fact that he's not exactly Fabio.

Chapter 22: Goku confronts Vegeta about the idea for the cure, irritating the prince. They get into a fight for dominance. Vegeta bit Goku's crouch. Goku goes to Annya for comfort and Annya explains its a social instinct pattern to the concerned Gohan. Leta Cuddles with Vegeta.

Chapter 23: Trunks and Goten are traumatized by dead bodies. Annya smacks Goten.

Chapter 24: Goku and Bulma have a heart to heart. Annya and Piccolo conspire away from the group. As a rouse (though Leta didn't know it was) Dende, Annya, Leta, and Piccolo tell the group they are going to Namek because the guys aren't putting morality aside to save the planet. The guys (Vegeta and Goku) "agree" to step up to the plate.

Chapter 25: Annya and Leta prepare themselves. Annya and Goku smut.

Chapter 26: Vegeta wakes up with a hang over to Leta's rage. Goku is revealed as a shameless cuddler who now has his tail back. The activated cells are found to help.

Chapter 27: Chichi and Goku fight about what he has done.

Chapter 28: Gohan's study is interrupted by Goten who brings him out to play with Annya and him. Vegeta and Goku have a talk. Bulma and Leta bond.

Chapter 29: Goku has been helping Annya harvest her activated eggs so much that she barely had enough energy to continue living. Gohan takes the stand in her defense against Goku who seems very insistent that they...uhem, harvest as many times as they can. Piccolo and Leta talk about responsibility.

Chapter 30: Gohan takes Goku to Dende's to detain him so Annya can rest. Leta annoys Vegeta.

Chapter 31: The girls are back in heat again. Goku refuses to stay on the lookout any longer (he has a red...I mean children to get back to). Annya drugs Gohan and Goku so she and Leta can rest easy.

Chapter 32: Gohan and Goku had nightmares and used Annya as an unbreakable teddy bear which turned into them getting very 'friendly' with her in their sleep. Goku has unknowingly started to scent mark her as well. Leta is amused by this. Goku comes back and he and Vegeta get in a dominance fight again.

Chapter 33: Biting is explained to Gohan as the girls prepare to go to a club to let off some sexual-tension steam. Vegeta drags Leta off by her hair when he sees what she's wearing underneath her jacket...Goku wants to know what Annya is wearing too.

Chapter 34: Annya uses Gohan to try and prove a point to Goku while still in her heat cycle. With too many emotions to hold, Gohan snaps at Videl.

Chapter 35: A week later, and a lot of sleepless nights for two and a half saiyans, Bulma has made synthetic saiyan stem cells. Leta returns seemingly sick.

Chapter 36: They find out that Leta is pregnant.

Chapter 37: Goku demonstrates that he really likes cuddling, Annya explains she thinks it makes people weak. Goku tries to do a the "sexy dance" but Annya pushes him out of the room, which amuses Leta, before he could get very far. He talks to Vegeta who confronts Leta and Bulma...apparently Goku's stamina and learning ability makes him Fabio after all. Vegeta and Goku fight again.

Chapter 38: Goku convinces Annya to travel with him, Goten, and Gohan in outer space while Leta stays behind and continues her pregnancy.

Chapter 39: The Sons and Annya come back to Earth. Annya tells them she's not going to take Chichi and or Videl's role in their life. When she returns to CC she finds that Vegeta left Leta to nearly starve and rushes to get her levels back to normal.

Chapter 40: Gohan lets it all out (the fact that he feels eternally guilty) when he stumbles into the fact that Annya and Leta actually do have their own place.

Chapter 41: Gohan wakes up hold Annya while his Dad is smiling/laughing. Leta continues to push Vegeta's buttons. Trunks and Goten explore the idea of multiple sets of parents. Goten interrupts Annya and Goku sparing. And there was no way that Goku was staring at Annya's tail area when she walked away from him...simply no way.

Chapter 42: Videl finally sees Gohan's tail for herself when they were talking about the fact they were gathering the dragonballs. Leta and Gohan have a talk.

Chapter 43: Before wishing on the dragonballs, they discover Annya's fear for seeing her own Zeyato revived. A small population of Saiyans are revived along with an equal amount of their ships. Goku, Gohan, Goten, Trunks, and Annya go out to greet them.

Chapter 44: Instead of going to greet his father, Vegeta and Leta were fornicated inside of CC. Bulma explains why she seems to be okay with the whole Vegeta and Leta thing.

Chapter 45: Leta sulks. Gohan tries to come to grips with the whole situation with all the fornicating saiyans around by going to talk to Annya. Bardock's a baddass.

Chapter 46: Goku becomes forceful with Annya (wanting to do like all the other remaining saiyans around and fornicate). But it ends well as she gets him to admit to his feelings of not knowing what he needs to do anymore instead. Vegeta understands the true depths of masculine fear for the first time.

Chapter 47: Annya and Goku deliver the twins.

Chapter 48: Goku's attempts to make up with Chichi don't go so well. Annya gets King Vegeta and Bardock drunk. Vegeta is not amused.

Chapter 49: The red team of scouts have been killed. The main group of saiyans ship out.

Chapter 50: Vegeta is not amused when they are on the ship together. The Tuffle's ship swallows them hole into a room made from the remnant dust of Planet Plant/Vegeta that the full saiyans can't damage. Goten, Gohan, and Trunks break them out. The group splits up before Vegeta comes back possessed by a very immature Baby.

Chapter 51: They fight the Baby Vegeta before getting an ominous warning that the worst is yet to come.


	21. Chapter 21

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 21**_

"It's been a long time," Goku said casually as he stopped near the kneeling Namekian and Annya. "I'd ask how you were doing but..."

His loopy smile was the sign that this was actually the real Goku, despite how differently he might be acting. Although in most serious situations this behavior wasn't that different from the norm. But it was different from the fun loving side he had. The one with the twinkle always in the eye. The one that didn't resemble a saiyan in any way shape or form. It was almost like he had merged his battle attitude with his happy-Goku self...at least for this moment in time.

"Tell me, did you send her here?" The Namekian elder asked with a strained voice.

"No, but I'm here to stop her."

The namekian smiled good naturedly despite the confusing contradiction that this situation made. He knew Goku wouldn't be in league with someone so greedy as to want to use their dragonballs for their own purposes.

"You don't even know what I'm doing," Annya said evenly as she pushed the namekian forward to release him, frustration showing through the action rather than her expression.

"You were thinking about killing him," Goku said as he crossed his arms, leveling his gaze at her. "What happened to you?"

Annya's whole body seemed to pause, "Were you reading my _mind_?"

"What has Paragus done to you?" He scowled.

"Is he the man that came with her?" the Namekian asked as he stood up, not as tall as the male saiyan due to age but taller than the female still.

"He is not a man," Annya said darkly as her eyes darted over to the green, aged figure. "But he has done nothing. He can no longer do anything to me."

"Then why are you with him?" Goku asked puzzled.

Annya stared at him, slightly tilting her head up as she brushed her hair back. The metal caught the sun...catching Goku's attention sharply. Gohan was right. She was wearing a bracelet that looked similar to what Broly had been forced to wear, only more discreet and feminine. How had his son picked up on that when he himself hadn't realized she was wearing it?

"Because there are little choices when you've been exiled," Annya said with steel in her voice. "Just like before...but this time I'm trying to keep everyone save regardless of that. And you...you and these namekians are getting in my way."

"No Annya, I'm helping you." Goku paused. "I'm saving you from Paragus."

"I don't need saving from him. Haven't you been listening?"

"I have… but you haven't."

Annya shook her head as she rose into the air, "I don't have time to waste. If you don't know how to speak namekian, we're done conversing. Oh, unless you mean to collect on the exile laws and kill me."

"You weren't exiled." Goku moved to follow, "You need to break Paragus' control, he's controlling you like he did Broly!"

"He's not controlling me," Annya snorted. "Otherwise I wouldn't be here...I've just finally realized the status quo of this world. And I'm sick of it. So I'm going to change it. Goodbye Goku."

And with that, she took off while Goku was still on the ground.

* * *

"So… where did you find this slimeball?" Leta asked, her voice dripping with disgust as she stared at the form that had been dropped at her feet.

"He was raging near the dragonballs...apparently Broly was just as happy to get rid of him as you were," Gohan said as he looked down, still trying to get over the fact that Broly hadn't even responded to him being there.

"Oh…" Leta smirked, crossing her arms. "It looks like even your monster son doesn't want you. What does that make you, scum? Shit?"

Paragus snarled at her words, struggling against his bindings in anger.

"Leta what are you doing?" Gohan asked as his brows drew together.

"I'm getting answers from him Gohan."

"You'll get nothing from me, bint." Paragus growled only to have his head snap to the side from Leta's kick.

"I'll get whatever I want, because your lips are far looser than any bint's legs." Leta informed in a cool tone.

Paragus spat at her feet. "You? You're nothing but a shadow of something greater. A little girl trying to fill in for a position she knows nothing about."

Paragus frowned slightly as instead of getting angry, Leta rolled him onto his back with her foot.

"Little girl, huh?" She asked, her voice void of emotion.

Paragus moved to spit another scathing remark at her only to find he could no longer breathe. Leta had placed her foot on his throat and had began to bear her weight onto it.

"Leta, what are you doing?" Gohan asked with wide eyes.

He didn't know how he pictured the situation going. But this was definitely not it. Sure they had issues in the past getting information but they'd never resorted to this! It was a little more than savagery...it reminded him too much of the terrors he'd faced as a kid when he thought of the saiyans.

"Stop," Gohan said as he watched Paragus struggle to breathe.

"Stay out of this, boy," the voice of King Vegeta came out steady as he and his son walked closer to them.

"You can't do this. It isn't right."

"It is necessary." King Vegeta fixed his gaze on the quickly discoloring Paragus.

"No it's not," Gohan said as he put his hand on Leta's shoulder. "Stop this. It's barbaric."

The Vegetas snorted but Leta was unmoved by Gohan's declaration. She did, however, let up on her foot for a moment so she could get answers from the slimeball below her. She put her foot to his chest to keep him in his place - on the ground, vulnerable. But he did something that confused her. Paragus, as soon as he could breath, laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" Leta asked as she bore down more weight on his chest with her foot.

"So the count's up to three guys now? What makes it worse is that this...half-breed doesn't even smell like he's fucked you. So do you just take commands from any male who smiles at you?"

Gohan stared down at the man in disbelief. When had Paragus gotten such a filthy, disgusting mouth? Sure he remembered the man being despicable with just about no morals and willing to deceive people to get his way. But he didn't remember anything is...well, adult coming out of his mouth. And he had to say that he really didn't like it. Especially how he made just about every noun sound like a cuss word.

Before Gohan could react to what Paragus had insinuated, rather than just thinking about the fact that he was being profoundly more vulgar, the bound Saiyan was screaming in agonizing pain. He stared in shock at the sight, Leta had her hand eclipsing Paragus' now missing eye, her ki pouring violently from her body onto his skin like acid. The stench of burning flesh had started to fill the air, causing Gohan to cringe.

"The other one is next." Leta murmured, her voice filled with nothing but contempt.

"You Git!" Paragus screamed as he thrashed about. "You bloody bint!"

The Vegetas watched the display with a hint of unease, alerting Gohan to the fact that this definitely wasn't normal. The older hid it better than the younger of course but it was there none the less. It seemed that what was necessary had turned up darker than what the King of saiyans had been expecting. Both the younger Vegeta and Gohan couldn't help the sickly feeling in their stomachs over what was going to happen next no matter how much Vegeta would deny that it existed.

"Fine then." Leta drawled as she moved her still glowing hand away from his face, revealing the level of damage.

Gohan pulled back as soon as the stimuli registered. He was used to the burns left by high concentrated ki blasts...but never before had he seen something like this. Never before had the power levels been so uneven that such a thing was possible when he was fighting. Even those who could have done such a thing (like him on some occasions) never had.

There was a palm sized part of his face that just didn't seem human (or saiyan in this case) anymore. His eye was gone and left no trace behind. The socket had been burnt to the bone while the flesh in the surrounding area was peeled and bubbling, distorting every feature into something monstrous and grotesque.

"Leta what have you done?" Gohan asked, taken back with a horrified look on his face.

Leta ignored him as she moved her still glowing hand to the other side of his face. She stared down at Paragus' remaining eye as it widened as it tried to focus through his terror. His body trembled violently as he began to struggle and scream.

"The Queen!" Paragus calls out as he fruitlessly struggles.

"Hmm?" Leta hummed as she continued to lower her hand over his other eye. "Scum should learn to speak properly to its betters."

"It was the Queen!"

Leta's brow furrowed, "Go on."

"She told me to!"

"Told you to what?" Leta asked in a dark voice as she leaned over him more.

"Leta, stop this," Gohan was all but ignored, even by Paragus.

"Told me to put it on her! She told me I'd have her back! She just wanted the children!"

Leta's eyes snapped wide open, her hand clenching slightly, digging her nails into his face. "Children?"

"Y-Yours," Paragus barely managed to get out.

Leta's body when numb at that answer, she didn't even feel when her nails dug in far enough to draw blood.

"The queen wants my children?" the younger Vegeta snarled. "Who is this queen you're yapping about and why does she want my children?"

"The queen...is your mother," King Vegeta said in a somber tone.

* * *

The following is a summary of everything that has happened on a chapter by chapter basis.

**Of Blood and Fire**

Chapter 1: Goku is still not Fabio, but he was able to get everyone off of the ship by instant transmission despite that. And when they weren't looking when they got home, he got to spar with Annya...causing Gohan some concern. All the while Leta and Trunks worry over Vegeta's prone body.

Chapter 2: Vegeta wakes up and fights to get out of bed, Leta says no. When trying to explain the true depths of his strength to Videl Gohan unwillingly hurts her.

Chapter 3: Goku got some shriveled up sensu beans. Leta translates Vegeta-ese for everyone as he still can not talk due to what Annya had done to his throat. Goku is told about the Saiyans planning to leave Earth. And then they get into a conversation about shananagans.

Chapter 4: Gohan asks Annya for her help to control the strength he's having trouble with. So they play a saiyan equivalence of Tag in the time chamber.

Chapter 5: Gohan's training continues in Super Saiyan 2 form. He ended up needing a siayan teddy bear. And then Annya put him into bondage. Yet he still wants her to be his saiyan bear. And he had to save her from the irritation of waking up before drowning in the oversized eastern bathtub. Hormones, hormones hormones...

Chapter 6: Annya starts to whip Gohan into shape which forces Gohan to tap into some dominant behaviors - good job Gohan. Afterwards, Annya shares a little too much information with Gohan before pressing down on a bundle of nerves that really stir the hormones back up...among other things. Transform to have a monkey moment before going back to find out that Annya had transformed a bit of her own. Bring on the heat. And while she's roasting his instinct alive, Annya was kind enough to explain the basis of those instincts to him.

Chapter 7: Leta starts off the day with a song, confusing all the residence of Bulma's house. They talk about why that happened with no real conclusion being drawn because Leta realizes that Annya is not with her children. Trunks and Goten have a musical number of their own before Trunks finds out that Leta has plans to pass him over in line of succession (done in song form). Trunks and Goten go to Piccolo for training. Mini music number there. Back in the hyperbolic time chamber - Annya has forced Gohan to transform into the Oozaru form with her around. His large form decided that he really did want to force Annya to transform with him so they can mate. Logical Gohan pushed through the haze when Annya pleaded with him and triggered a far more powerful form...tasteful fade to black.

Chapter 8: The boys (Goku, Vegeta, King Vegeta, Bardock and the newly returned Gohan) have a song number. Leta pouts from the window which triggers Annya's song. Cue Leta to Goku training montage.

Chapter 9: Vegeta has a nightmare that pulls a song from him. Trunks confronts Leta and gets slapped for it, causing Bulma to react. Goku contemplates his relationship with Annya before said female decides to visit him. Cue Goku's song and Annya's anger.

Chapter 10: A week or so later, Annya and Leta are chilling on the new planet Saiya. Vegeta and Bulma decide that Leta must have stolen the children. To the contrary though...because Trunks and Goten are found, to Leta's surprise, by some of the guards. Gohan, in the middle of his song, notices that the population of SatanCity seems to be going somewhere. And not only that but he felt a hypnotic pull too.

Chapter 11: Goku has noticed that his friends are missing. He Instant transmissioned onto the ship with Gohan to join up with Vegeta and Bulma. When Vegeta arrived on the planet Leta had to confront him about the children. When that settled down Gohan went to have a chat with Annya about what he thought would be future consequences of the moment in the Time Chamber only to find out that Annya had already dealt with it. Goku interrupted them and Gohan gladly took the excuse to leave the situation. Goku stayed to talk to Annya about what Annya said before she left. Trigger Annya's next song.

Chapter 12: Leta has Vegeta bond with his children. Bardock confronts Annya about her refusal of his son (and to further his own goals). Goku takes a stand against his father's stand on the issue while Annya shows them that she isn't going to take the demands laying down.

Chapter 13: Vegeta shows interest in his two youngest children much to Bulma's amazement. Leta is spying on him, causing her to start singing once again. At dinner that song continues. Back on Earth something sinister is brewing.

Chapter 14: Bardock asserts his dominance over horny male saiyans after Fasha. Once again, Bardock and Goku have a heart to heart...but this time Goku really takes offense to his father's ideals. Later, Bardock's boredom leads to the planning of a tournament.

Chapter 15: Goku goes to Annya to talk but it doesn't end with a happy ever after. Which leads Leta to talk to him to try and cheer him up. Leta asks Goku to teach her something.

Chapter 16: And the tournament begins underground for the Saiyans. Leta wants to take a nap and recruits Gohan as her protector so she's not raped when she tries to sleep. Gohan steps up for the role. Bardock is victorious in his fights and wins the last match with a surprising twist - he can go super too. This catches the heat laden mind of Leta and Annya and they instinctually are drawn to him to congratulate him on a job well done regardless of the fact that there are stronger males available to them. Cue Bardock's song.

Chapter 17: Leta came back from Bardock winging a rather vindictive song, Annya haven't lefter her alone with him. Apparently Bardock thinks slapping her ass was a compliment and she didn't take it that way. Paragus appears and relays a smoky message to the Sons before disappearing. Annya tells Gohan (and Goku) that it's okay to leave so they could go save Chichi.

Chapter 18: Gohan finally mentions what he saw in SatanCity before they left when they get back to Earth. All the while it is revealed that not only did Annya not kill Broly, but she brought him with her to the planet and woke him up from his cyro-sleep. Leta was not amused. Annya left with Broly and Paragus (to a song). Bardock reports to Leta on the status of Paragus only to inform her that Annya left with him. Leta barely believed him and Bardock revealed one of the reasons he was so pushy on the subject of getting Annya pregnant with his son's next child. On Earth, Gohan finds Videl but can't seem to wake her from her hypnotized state.

Chapter 19: The guys (Gohan, Vegeta, and Goku), Trunks and Goten are able to confront the people that have been causing them to sing and dance. Apparently it was a way to get inside of their heads and turn them into slaves when their energy ran out. And they revealed that it wasn't Chichi that they wanted. But before they could race back to Annya, Videl confronted Gohan about going with him. Vegeta put an end to that. The guys returned to the planet to find that Annya was already gone as well as the fact that Paragus and Broly were with her. That didn't seem to surprise Goku.

Chapter 20: The "rescue" group for Annya had some issues deciding on where to look. They caught a distress signal that they had to follow in order to hear it. Annya showed up on the planet that the namekians had settled and made home, demanding to use the dragonballs. When she was trying to get a namekian to cooperate with her Goku stepped in.

Chapter 21: Goku talked to Annya (more like at) before she took off. Gohan brought Paragus to Leta. She used torture interrogations (which none of the males were exactly comfortable with) to get answers from him. They found out that the Queen (Vegeta's mother) was after baby Vegeta and Reena.


	22. Chapter 22

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 22**_

"My… my Mother?" Vegeta stuttered in shock.

"What the hell does she want with my children?" Leta snarled

She bore down on Paragus, cracking a rib and nearly putting her foot right through him. It was at that point that the tortured saiyan passed out from the pain. Leta moved back in disgust and anger. He had told her that the Queen, Vegeta's mother, wanted her children but hadn't been able to last long enough to tell her why. Or even how it was she was planning to get them when she was supposed to be dead. Now with him spent she didn't have a way to find out.

Unless...

"Gohan," Leta said tightly with the taste of bitter vile on the back of her tongue from what she was about to ask. "The namekians...they can heal right?"

"Yes," he wasn't sure if he should like where this was going.

"Get one. Bring it here. Have them heal this monster. He's still needed."

"I'm not going to get someone to heal him just so you can torture him all over again Leta," his voice was firm despite the fact that he had yet to try and physically stop her.

"That wasn't a request Gohan!" Leta snapped. "My children are not going to be taken to HFIL!"

"They've already been taken." King Vegeta frowned as he connected the dots, "Paragus and his son were a distraction."

"What?!" Leta spun around to face her king, her voice laced with rage and terror.

"Look for yourself, you will find that I am right."

She paid no more mind to Paragus or the others as she raced off to the ship to confirm King Vegeta's words. All the while Vegeta growled and crossed his arms to scowl at his remaining parental figure.

"What is this nonsense about my mother?"

* * *

"Boy, you said it was angry before its capture, why?" Asked King Vegeta as he oversaw the containment of the still unconscious Paragus.

"Huh, what?" Gohan asked as he blinked to try and pull himself out of his thoughts. "You mean Paragus?"

"Correct, what caused its anger?" King Vegeta crossed his arms, "The reason may be a clue."

"He was unhappy about Annya...apparently the Queen," the title seemed foreign on his tongue, "promised him that he would be able to control her but I didn't know that's what he was talking about until Leta..."

He let that trail off. He still really didn't know how to mentally deal with what he'd just seen. It made it worse for him considering that he knew he had the power to have done something...but he just hadn't. Did that make him any better than the villains he'd faced in the past or worse?

"But yeah, he was raging over the fact that it was taking too long for him. He wanted to move to the next planet but Annya was resisting his every demand and insisting that she was going to wish on the dragonballs for Broly."

"For what purpose?"

Gohan shrugged, "I don't know. At that point, Broly decided he didn't like me sneaking around in the bushes."

King Vegeta remained silent, contemplating. "You are familiar with his control devices, correct?"

"A little yes," Gohan nodded, "we ran into it when I was a kid. I haven't seen anything like it since. Well, except for when I realized that's what the bracelet Annya has been wearing was. I thought my dad gave it to her or something...but I was wrong."

"These devices grant him complete control?" The King inquired further as they returned to the main level of the ship.

Gohan gave him a negative shake of his head, "No. I don't think so. It seemed more like suggestion implantation...or maybe an emotional control. When Broly got too angry the device broke so that might have been an unequal balance of power or it might have been that Broly's anger was stronger than Paragus' will."

"He is not in control, but she is not thinking freely." King Vegeta deduced.

"What makes you say that?"

"I know my zeyato."

* * *

The sounds of a fight echoed through so many different senses that it was hard to keep track where the sensations where coming from. Titan faced heroes and the heroes weren't doing so hot. Even if Annya tried to get her son to calm down there really wasn't anything she herself could do at this point. The sound of ki blasts, the smells of burnt clothing and slightly singed skin mixed with the feeling and sound of barriers being broke as they moved through the dark sky. Normally it wasn't so dark but...well, Annya finally convinced the namekians to let her have her wish when they realized that Goku and Gohan were losing the battle.

Annya stood before the elder namekian as he chanted up to the dragon they called Parunga or some such name as that - names were not important to her right now. Getting her son some control and sanity was. Otherwise the universe would suffer...and as she liked being safe she needed the universe to survive her son's wrath. Just when she thought that the wish had been granted (because of the red glow that increased tenfold in the dragon's eyes) she was mistaken. There seemed to be a complication...and she had a feeling she knew why.

"You asked him to get rid of my son didn't you?" Annya asked as her jaw seemed to shift back and forth.

The namekian looked at her defiantly. "He's killed four of my brothers already and he's about to kill Goku and Gohan. You're their friend. How can you not want him gone?"

"Ask for him to have self control over his anger," Annya ground out. "Like I asked you to relay the first time."

"What good will that do?!" The namekian seemed enraged as Gohan fell from the sky, unconscious, with Goku not doing too much better.

"Right now you have nothing to lose if you do, and a lot to lose if you don't."

Yes this was a little more direct than she was used to being. But the situation called for it.

When the words were relayed and the dragon's eyes glowed again, there was a definite drop in background sounds of Goku getting beaten to death. The namekian seemed satisfied.

"Good. Now ask him to teleport Gohan and Goku out of here and onto the ship with Vegeta and Leta."

This one he seemed to have no problem with. Apparently when it came to the Sons' safety the namekians were only too happy to oblige. As soon as they were gone Annya pulled out a whip of energy, like the ones she used on Gohan during training but with a serious charge this time, and sliced off the namekian's head before obliterating any ruminant of his body. The dragon returning to the namekian dragonballs was the background for this action but it was already too late for the dragon to help the green humanoid.

"Mother?" Broly's voice was back to being uncertain as he descended from the sky, hair still golden and blood pumping but his anger was under his control.

"It's done Broly. Your mind is your own," Annya said calmly as she stared up at her son, "and not the product of what King Vegeta and your father did to you as a child."

"Thank you."

* * *

Goku groaned as he sat up from his prone position on the former gravity chamber's floor. His head felt like he was in a vice grip and his body felt almost as though Vegeta had broken all his bones again. But he was alive. And that was the only thing that mattered.

"Good, you're up," Gohan's relieved voice said from beside him.

Goku turned his head towards his son. It seemed that Gohan had managed to find where Goku had hid the sensu beans if the bag in his hand and his healed appearance was anything to go off of.

"Any of them left? I can barely move my head."

Gohan nodded though he didn't look very happy. He flicked the bean into his father's mouth and watched as it worked it's magic. Goku stood up slowly and looked around.

"Where's Annya?"

"Still on Namek, I guess." Gohan answered with mild uncertainty.

Goku frowned. "You left her there?"

"She didn't give us a choice. She had the dragon transport us here after I went unconscious. And unlike you I don't know the instant transmission technique."

"We should go back." Goku crossed his arms.

"Even if we did...how are we going to get the bracelet off of her? If you didn't notice, Broly is still there and he doesn't like us getting near her," Gohan pointed out in a quiet voice despite his agreement that they should.

"I don't know but we need to try, we can't let Paragus control her anymore." Goku nodded, set on his decision.

"But dad…" Gohan started.

"He's the least of your worries, Goku." Leta interrupted as she entered the room, her voice void of emotions. "You're going back down there and taking me with you. No arguments."

Goku nodded and put a hand on Leta's shoulder while Gohan put his hand on his father's shoulder. Then as soon as they were situated, Goku set himself in the iconic position with his fingers to the forehead pose.

"How far away is she?" Leta asked as soon as she noticed that Annya wasn't in line of sight.

"On the other island ahead of us. I thought it would be better to land here instead," Goku said seriously.

"Alright. As soon as I tell her take us back to the ship immediately," Leta said in like.

"Wait… Tell her what?" Goku asked.

"Paragus isn't controlling her, dad." Gohan answered, brow furrowed.

"What?!" Goku exclaimed, confused.

"Focus Goku." Leta barked. "Follow me."

Neither Goku nor Gohan paid much mind to the fact that Leta was much more...well Vegeta like than usual as they took off at a slow hover. The island really wasn't that far away but the closer they got the more the smell of cooking meat surrounded them. Unfortunately for Gohan and Goku's empty stomachs, Leta didn't seem to be there for a social gathering. In fact there was the air of barely suppressed anger and that wasn't conducive for a sit in.

Gohan looked at the situation as they landed with a critical eye. Broly was still there but he had calmed down...again. Except this time, he paid more attention to the cooked dragon's steak in front of him over the two of them. But the closer that they got the less that seemed to be true. In fact when they sat down on the ground, Broly was staring directly at them over his steak. Considering that this man was the one that just beat his father and himself into submission, Gohan was surprised that a fight hadn't broken out again.

While Gohan and Goku remained tense, ready to fight, Leta was eerily calm. While she kept her senses trained on Broly, her focus was on Annya. She didn't move from her place near the Sons, assuring that Goku could grab her and teleport without difficulty.

"What do you want Leta?" Annya asked as she lowered the meat away from her mouth.

"I coerced Paragus to talk… unfortunate that he lost his eye first." Leta shared, her voice still devoid of emotion.

"That's nothing new for him," Annya said as she raised an eyebrow. "Why are you telling me this?"

"His squeals were worth noting."

She stared blankly at Leta as though she wasn't capable of caring at this point. Which was very strange for her considering that she nearly had a panic attack when the idea of him possibly being revived was brought up. And that hadn't been that long ago.

"Did you want something?" Broly asked during Annya's silence as he kept his eyes on the two males even though his question was directed to Leta.

"He was merely the distraction."

"Why do I care if he was a distraction or not?" Annya kept questioning blandly.

"You're also being used as a distraction."

"I no longer care Leta. Or did you think exile only works one way?"

Gohan edged forward and looked down to Leta as he turned his head. "What are you doing? I thought we were just going to get the bracelet off of her?"

"Broly, does that bracelet look familiar?" Leta asked the man she'd previously ignored.

Broly seemed to pause for a moment as he internally debated the pros and cons of looking away from Goku and Gohan. His nearly non-existent curiosity seemed to surge foreword as his eyes turned over to the gold and green bracelet on his mother's wrist. And then his eyes narrowed and power started to flare. He knew exactly what that form of jewelry was for.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Goku said as he tilted his head, noticing the rising power immediately.

"Paragus is not in control of you," Leta paused, beginning to move closer to Goku.

"He never was," Annya said darkly.

"No, the Queen is." Leta paused, "And she's used you to distract us from the kidnapping of my children."

"The Queen is dead Leta," Annya said with a bite slowly forming in her words. "And there's no way in hell she came back with the rest of them."

"Neither did Paragus. Yet, he's in the brig, half burnt to hell."

Annya's mouth twitched as her jaw clenched. The steak in her hand was forgotten as she stared at Leta in a way neither Gohan nor Goku had seen from her yet. She seemed actually predatory. But it was in the subtle ways - not so much of teeth showing as eyes glinting dangerously with a tilt to her head.

Her attention turned over to Goku for a split second, "How much contact can the dead have with the living?"

"A lot… if they have a means to contact them." Goku admitted. "Like King Kai or another telepath."

"How…"

"She sent the Tuffles, the wizards and now Paragus." Leta continued, "Who else could so skillfully play with your mind?"

Gohan noticed the shaking of Annya's hands as they curled into a fist, "Are you okay?"

"Leave," Annya said in a clipped tone. "Now."

"But…" Gohan started.

"Now Goku." Leta snapped, grabbing onto his arm.

Goku spared a glance towards Annya as she shook in her spot. He really didn't know what to do. He knew that until they got the bracelet off of her she wasn't going to come home (or so he thought). But he also knew that at this moment she wasn't going to let them get any closer. And seeing as how Broly had never been able to take his devices off...he doubted that she was going to remove it herself.

"Are you sure?" Goku said as he prepared for the jump.

Annya snapped her attention back to him. Her hair seemed to stand on end, flickering an orange that looked like fire against the sky of the planet.

"Goku, I swear to everything you hold dear if you don't leave me alone right now I will rip out your intestines and feed them to you."

Goku's concern grew, but he still wanted to help.

"Now Goku, that's an order." Leta growled as she tightened her hold on his arm and reached for Gohan with her other hand.

A moment more and then they were out of there, just narrowly avoiding Annya quiet literally blowing the area to smithereens.


	23. Chapter 23

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 23**_

"Now that's a light show." Bardock commented as he and the pair of Vegeta's watched a dome of ki envelope a portion of the planet.

"Indeed, I am to assume she did not take the news well?" King Vegeta nodded as he addressed the newly arrived Leta.

"You'd be correct." She crossed her arms as she walked over to join them.

Bardock laughed under his breath, "So that's her losing her temper huh?"

"That is her trying not to kill the planet while losing her temper," Leta replied.

They watched the energy continue from the area, parts of New Namek started to disappear only to be replaced by water. But then soon even that started to blotch up. Gohan watched with wide eyes as this started to happen.

"Trying not to kill the planet? Well it's not working!" Gohan pointed to the damage still being done. "At this rate she'll disintegrate the atmosphere...and the water trapped in the atmosphere won't help matters."

"That's what the dragonballs are for, right?" Bardock cocked his head to the side.

"She just used the dragonballs," Goku's voice was uncharacteristically faint as he watched the destruction.

"What about yours?"

"That's not the point!" Gohan interrupted.

"I thought you were all about saving planets," Bardock said with a light shrug. "So what was the topic hotshot?"

Gohan stuttered, not sure what to say to that.

"The 'point' is that now Annya isn't compromised, we can focus on the more important issue." Leta answered.

"Indeed, the planet will survive." King Vegeta agreed. "It is time to face our true adversary."

Bardock almost looked excited but on the other side of the spectrum, Leta didn't seem to be displaying any emotional response over the situation.

"Do we know if she's alive? Or are we going to have to find a way to HFIL?" Gohan asked as he turned away from the window.

The discussion as interrupted by a shape blasting from the planet into space.

"Broly's leaving?" Gohan asked, confused.

"Follow him," Vegeta snapped.

"What? Why?"

"We need to put down that monster once and for all." Vegeta growled, "Woman, follow him." He gestured towards the controls.

Leta didn't move or respond, her unfocused gaze fixed on the slowly dimming ki dome.

"Vegeta! We have more important things to worry about than Broly!" Goku argued, "What about stopping the Queen?"

"That doesn't matter! We have the advantage now!" he roared, "Woman! Do as I say!"

"No."

"What?!" Vegeta growled.

"No." Leta repeated.

"Why not?" he seemed to be at a total loss as to why she wasn't following after the monstrosity of a saiyan.

"I'm not taking orders from you." She answered, her voice laced with anger.

"Woman you will listen to me right now and set a course for that creature!" It was almost like he hadn't understood what she had just said.

"No, I don't take orders from children." Leta rebutted.

Vegeta chocked, the insult putting a pause to all his mental processes.

Satisfied that there would be no more arguments, Leta turned to Goku. "Instant Transmission can travel any distance so long as you know the destination, correct?"

"Yeah." Goku answered.

"Does this include destinations in the afterlife?"

"Yes," was Goku's short reply before adding, "are we all going?"

Leta turned to the King, conferring to him for the answer.

"Yes," King Vegeta nodded. "My Zeyato is incredibly smart, our only means is to overpower her."

"Hmph, well that won't be hard," Vegeta grunted.

"Wrong," Bardock corrected. "Every Saiyan knows that the Queen always keeps herself well protected, she surrounds herself with the strongest fighters she can find. And in HFIL, she's got access to all those creeps. It wouldn't be a stretch for her to even sweet talk Frieza or that bug into defending her."

"No, she hated Frieza," King Vegeta said disgruntled.

"Just saying she could if she wanted to." Bardock argued.

To that, King Vegeta grunted in agreement.

Vegeta stared at his father and Bardock in thinly veiled disbelief.

"Can it be done?" Leta redirected to Goku, referring back to her original question.

"Yes," Goku answered again. "Just hold onto my arm and I'll do the rest."

With a nod, Leta grasped his arm and waited for the others to do the same. Predictably, Vegeta was the last one to join on the bandwagon. He did it in the end while snarling under his breath about "Kakarot overusing the technique".

Once everyone was on board, Goku placed his fingers to his forehead and envisioned HFIL. In a flash, they were gone.

* * *

"Well now that we're here," Vegeta snarled in agitation, "what else do you want to do? Pick daises?"

"Well… that is an unexpected hobby for a Saiyan prince to have. Though it is certainly not the strangest." An amused female voice answered him.

Vegeta, along with the others, turned to find the source of the voice. On a bench not far from them sat petite woman. Her hair was black and parted in loose pigtails, her bangs ending just above her half lidded eyes. Her face, while painted with makeup, appeared older than her size suggested. The armor she wore revealed her to be a Saiyan. Over her arms, attached to a clasp on the front of her armor was a long, cape like brown pelt. In her lap sat the twins, who were silent and shaking as she pet their heads. Her red lips were pulled into an amused smirk as she gazed at them from her perch.

"Why have you taken the children?" King Vegeta asked, breaking the silence that had fallen.

"Is it a crime to want to see my grandchildren?" The Queen answered, "They're truly a miracle… slightly defective though. I suppose that is to be expected, given your sons deficiencies."

"Asabi..." The king rattled out in a darker tone.

"Now now, I haven't done anything wrong," the Queen, now identified as Asabi, said with a light pout.

"By your definition." King Vegeta grunted.

"You know as well as I that only my definition counts." She countered.

"Cut the shit. Give me my children," Leta demanded.

Asabi turned her attention to the irate Leta, clearly un-intimidated. "That is no way to speak to your Queen."

Leta's lip raised in a snarl, "Give them to me or I'll take them by force."

"Such a bad example you're setting." Queen Asabi mocked.

The King tensed as the furious Leta approached his Zeyato, not out of concern for his mate but for what she had planned. As it turned out, his concern was pointless. Leta stalked over to Asabi and before the Queen could unleash her silver tongue, she found herself flying through the air. Leta had grasped her children in one hand each and then kicked the seated queen to relinquish them.

"Uh...she just kicked Vegeta's mom," Gohan said in a hushed awe, watching the scene with his father from a distance.

Once her children were secure in her grab, Leta marched over to Goku. Goku stared at the enraged woman with confusion before he found himself with an armful of children.

"Leta…?" He asked with uncertainty.

Leta wasn't listening, however. Satisfied that her children were well protected, she turned her attention to the slowly standing queen. With a flash, she flew over and went into for her next attack. To her credit, Asabi put up a fight, using her small size to her advantage by dodging and out maneuvering but that didn't matter in the end. Leta was stronger, bigger and more importantly, she was pissed.

"Tak-nas, I'osh iysha," Leta snarled out as she grabbed the queen by her hair and slammed her into the ground.

"What the hell is she saying?" Vegeta seethed.

"She said 'don't touch my children'," Goku said as he watched the two woman fight.

"How do you know that?" Oh, that's right...it was one of Vegeta's buttons...

"Annya taught us some things," Gohan replied without thinking about what he was saying before asking, "Should we stop them?"

"No." King Vegeta answered, his eyes never leaving the fight. "This is no longer about the theft.

"Then what's it about?" Goku looked to King Vegeta for answers as he tilted his head.

"Dominance."

Leta continued her relentless assault on Asabi, her rage blinding her to the damage she was causing or taking, not that the queen had the opportunity to fight back. However, her rampage came to a stop when the body beneath her stopped struggling. Leta pulled back to find Asabi still conscious but laying limp on the ground, her eyes refusing to meet Leta's gaze.

"And she has won," King Vegeta announced.

Vegeta crossed his arms with a huff. "Fine, time to leave."

"Vegeta…" Goku started, "Don't you even want to meet your mom?"

The prince stared at him as if he'd grown a second head.

"I know if I found out I had a mother...I'd want to meet her," Goku pressed.

Bardock snorted, "No you wouldn't."

"What…" Goku's question was cut short by Leta plucking her children from his grasp.

"There there now, mommy's here," Leta said as she rubbed her nose to each of her children in turn.

"Leta," King Vegeta spoke up as he motioned behind them.

Asabi walked to over to the group as gracefully as she could, but it was easy to see that Leta had put her in a great deal of pain. She might have been the queen of the prior Saiyan civilization but her time had passed...and she had never cared to keep up her fighting strength in the first place. In her hands was the pelt she had been wearing. When she got close enough she held it out to the preoccupied Leta.

Leta, at the sound of her name, turned towards the king only to look at the outstretched pelt in surprise.

"You…" Leta started, but her words were caught in her throat.

"Though I am loath to admit it, but I am old." Asabi spoke, no hint of her previous amusement in her voice. "I am also dead, and while that had suited the rank before, it doesn't now. Our race is alive and it will thrive but only with a proven leader on the throne."

"But Vegeta..." the words died on her tongue.

"Was supposed to be the king beside you...but unfortunately he is not fit for the position," Asabi's eyes didn't even flicker to her biological son when he made an unpleased noise.

Leta looked at the offered pelt, hesitant. "Why now?"

"I told you, you have proven yourself," the seriousness of the situation seemed to fade from her features as a pout stared to form. "Besides I'm bored...and I'm hurt..."

King Vegeta grunted when Asabi's eyes turned onto him.

"Hold me." She ordered, her expression not unlike a puppy dog pout.

His silence provoked her into abandoning her position near Leta. She moved over to him with the pout on her face. When they were practically touching toes she looked up at him with her dark eyes as wide as she could make them.

"Hold me," she stated again, her pitch rising up in almost a child-like fashion.

King Vegeta stared down at her over his crossed arms, for her head only came to his abdomen, with a blank expression. After a moment however, he sighed, uncrossed his arms and began petting her head gently. Asabi smiled like a cat and leaned against her Zeyato.

"What the hell are you doing?" the smaller Vegeta snarled. "This woman kidnapped my children and now you are _petting_ her?"

Before King Vegeta could react to his son's words, Leta let out a deep sigh.

"That's so romantic." She said, dreamily.

Vegeta's head snapped over to her and stared at her as though she had lost her marbles. This whole situation seemed absurd to him. First she was the enemy who had tried to make their life hell (even taking away an abundance of food!) and now his father and his zeyato were fawning over her? Had everyone lost their heads?!

"I am rather enjoying the perks of my game." Asabi sighed as her Zeyato continued to pet her hair as she snuggled against him. "It has been quite lonely with you gone."

"You have been planning this before I left," King Vegeta said as he stilled his hand atop her head. "Why?"

Asabi grumbled as he stopped petting, "Must you ruin our reunion?"

"Asabi…"

"Fine, if you must ask someone, ask Bardock." She gestured towards said Saiyan with her full arms, having not relinquished the pelt. "As you were then."

With a sigh, King Vegeta resumed his actions before turning his gaze to his friend and General. "Explain."

"Now you want to listen to me huh?" Bardock grunted. "Been trying to toughen ya'll up this whole time...and when shit finally goes down now you want to talk."

"What's going on dad?" Goku asked, his expression serious.

Bardock frowned, not liking that Asabi had put him in the center of what would undoubtedly be a shit storm. But, he was a Saiyan, so he took a deep breath and crossed his arms.

"I had a vision of the universe being destroyed… everything, including here." He started.

"And you're just telling us now?" Gohan asked as he crossed his arms, taking on a serious appearance.

"I was ordered not to mention it to all of you." He grunted, "I did what I was supposed to and told my queen about it."

Asabi smiled thinly, "Yes, he's been very helpful."

"How did you contact her?" Goku asked as he tried to make sense of the situation.

Bardock snorted, "Did you think you were the only one with mind powers? The only difference is that I'm better at."

"Mind powers...dad what's he talking about?" Gohan asked as he looked to Goku.

"Now who's keeping secrets?" Bardock's mood really had turned to his version of sulking.

"Muffin button." Goku responded.

The group seemed to collectively groan at his answer. And then after they realized that he wasn't thinking about food...well that was a bit of a surprise. After all, since when could Goku keep anything secret? Much less something about him evolving powers.

"Dad, what can you do?" Gohan asked seriously.

"That doesn't matter Gohan," Goku responded as he turned his attention back to Bardock. "Alright, so how do we stop the end of the universe?"

Bardock shrugged. "No idea, that's why I told her about my vision."

Attention switched back to Asabi as they came full circle. In fact that's all they seemed to be able to do lately - go in circles chasing their tails.

"Look to your new Queen boys, I'm tired," Asabi said with a pout as she snuggled into her zeyato's armored abdomen.


	24. Chapter 24

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 24**_

"She has not accepted the rank." King Vegeta pointed it out.

"Well that's not my fault. I've done all I could to turn her into the next queen. I gave her a chance to find something to protect to drive her and your son together so they could create grandchildren," Asabi said as she drew imaginary circles with her finger on him. "I even gave her a chance to prove that she was stronger than her general by breaking the girl down for her. And I took the children so she would take command. What more can I do?"

Power flared up around them. Asabi turned her attention to the other male saiyans - namely Gohan and Goku. Both seemed very...displeased. She couldn't fathom why.

"You destroyed the human population...because you wanted Leta to be a _queen_?" Gohan asked in a steeled over tone.

"Oh dear, someone's not happy," Asabi said with a sigh.

"Did you?" He really was seething and sparks started to dance around him. "My mother...Videl...everyone else? You made them suffer because you felt like it?"

"When you put it that way it makes me sound like a villain."

"To think you were perplexed as to why Frieza disliked you." King Vegeta snorted.

"Goku, take him out of here," Leta snapped.

She pointed to Gohan who seemed to be having issues keeping his power in check. The ground around them started to rumble as Gohan's eyes flashed teal. She understood, partly, why he was losing control of his anger. Asabi had tormented his world...had done more damage to not only the human population but the other animals there as well than any other villain before her. And he had finally found a target for all his anger at the situation - too bad the target was the one women they needed to keep in existence for explanation. After that...well Leta didn't want to think about that.

"Gohan, calm down," Goku said in a tight voice. "We need to get answers."

"No," Gohan replied as his hair lengthened, flashing gold and staying there.

"Now!" Leta snapped as Gohan started to walk towards Asabi.

Once again, Goku had to use the instant transmission. Soon he was going to have to tell them he wasn't supposed to use it all the time...he'd been warned about that. But now was not the time.

"I don't understand why you won't accept your rank." Asabi sighed, acting as if her afterlife wasn't in danger.

"Explain, now." Leta ordered.

"Where's the fun in that?"

Leta looked back to Asabi with a cold look as she continued to hold her children, "The sooner you start explaining the greater chance you have of me keeping Gohan away from you."

"When did you become so serious?" Asabi asked as she turned around so her back was to King Vegeta, the swath of fur still folded in her arms.

"Now." Leta growled as she handed the twins over to a surprised Vegeta. "Or I've no choice but to force it out of you."

"If you insist," Asabi said as she tossed the pelt into Leta's arms, making sure she took it this time.

"I simply did what was expected of me and now of you. I did what was necessary to defend the home world." Asabi explained. "The home world is now that Earth planet, as it is where the prince has made his bed."

"We don't live on Earth anymore," Leta said calmly.

"Well how was I to know that you'd abandon Earth?"

"You made it unsustainable," King Vegeta said as he stared down at the five foot woman.

"Can you stop yapping like dogs and tell us what is it threatening the universe already?" Vegeta snapped as Reena started to pull at his hair.

"At least he has his priorities straight," Asabi commented as she looked up at her Zeyato. "That's something he inherited from you."

"Tell us now!" Vegeta snapped and then baby Vegeta bit his arm. "God damn it woman come get your children."

"Shut up." Leta barked as she unfurled the folded pelt and put it on. She then turned to Bardock. "What exactly did you see?"

Bardock shifted in his stance as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I saw you arguing with princey here and then the city was blown up. Then the redhead surprised everyone by showing that she was one of us...apparently if it wasn't for Bulma she would have continued to live like a human. Then there was a fight with a pink thing and Earth was destroyed. Only Goten and Trunks survived because they were put into the ship by Gohan at the last minute. Kakarot never came back cause no one had wished him back. But the pink thing caught up with the kids right after they turned Super Saiyan for the first time...then the universe was just gone. Even this place."

"Pink thing?" Leta asked for clarification, and to put pause to whatever nonsense Vegeta was about to spew at the idea of being killed by something pink.

"Didn't get a good look at it," Bardock said with a growl.

Leta crossed her arms, causing the pelt to shift around her, as she thought over the situation. "There must be someone who knows what this thing is…"

"Your right," was everyone's favorite badass' reply. "There is."

"What's wrong?" King Vegeta asked - he knew that tone of voice by now.

"It's the Supreme Kai."

Leta snorted as she petted the pelt, "He couldn't help with the Tuffles...what makes you think he knows anything about this?"

"He's the Supreme Kai, that's a big deal I guess." Bardock shrugged. "At least that's what my son says."

Leta frowned, "He did make a fuss over him at the World Tournament."

"Oh, did he win the human tournament?" Asabi asked with renewed interest. Apparently Bardock hadn't told her _everything_.

"No, the tournament was canceled because the Tuffles attacked." Leta deadpanned.

Asabi seemed to deflate, which upset the man behind her. He seemed almost miffed that his zeyato had shown interest in the fighting prowess of another person. Or maybe it was because she had started to ignore him.

"How many of the humans ended up surviving?" Asabi asked in a still voice.

"Not many," Leta replied in like.

King Vegeta watched the exchange, but it was the younger Vegeta's expression that was priceless. He glanced between Leta and his supposed mother, noting just how similar they were behaving at the moment. He was looking into Leta's future, and it scared him.

"There must be a way to contact Supreme Kai…" Leta muttered, tapping her finger to her lip. "Perhaps through a lesser Kai? Goku spoke to use from Otherworld through a Kai…"

* * *

The landing wasn't so smooth this time when Goku and Gohan finally sat back down. Goku blinked as he looked around the ship. Everything seemed to be in place but there was something off. And it wasn't the fact that his son's explosive anger was still apparent.

"Why did you do that dad? She has to pay for all the lives she's destroyed!" Gohan raged, trying to make sure not to damage the ship at the same time.

"That's not for us to decide Gohan," Goku said as he finally understood what was off...

Annya was in the ship, and she was about to open the door. And from the way her energy was spiking (something Gohan didn't notice because he was angry as well) she was...pissed. Still pissed.

"I have to go back and get the others," his fingers were already at his forehead when the door of the chamber opened. "Try to calm down."

As he started to flicker out a few whips of energy shot out...but he was already on the go and took a bit of it with him.

Gohan spun around, his jade eyes focusing directly on a still pissed off Annya.

* * *

This time when Goku returned to HFIL there was blood running down his cheek and one of his arms, even a knick on leg from the same side. The energy of the whips had disappeared in the transfer but it hadn't been painless in the least.

He landed on his feet and looked around to the group that had descended into Silence.

"What happened to you? Goku, it's been 3 hours since you left."

Goku looked at them for a moment. Well looks like the warnings were right. It hadn't seemed that long to him.

"Are you guys ready to go home?" huh...she'd managed to split his lip without him noticing too apparently.

"Almost…" Bardock trailed off, noticing movement out of the corner of his eye.

"Ah well… We need to go soon." Goku would have elaborated but he suddenly found himself with an armful of children. "Huh?!"

Leta, upon Goku's arrival, had yanked her children from Vegeta's grasp and forced them upon Goku, deciding they'd be more protected by him than by their father. Vegeta hadn't even noticed they were gone until Goku reacted to them.

"Woman…" He growled, only to be ignored.

"We need to locate Supreme Kai." She told Goku, her tone serious. "Can you or your lesser Kai do it?"

"I don't know," Goku's expression was contemplative. "Supreme Kai is supposed to be a big deal in the afterlife...he might not be able to be contacted."

"I didn't ask if he could be contacted," Leta frowned, "He must be contacted."


	25. Chapter 25

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 25**_

When they got back, Goku was the first to notice that Gohan wasn't in the main chamber. Instead Annya was leaning against the gravity control with her arms crossed. Still not happy. Apparently when the flood gate to her anger opened it stayed open. He kind of missed the one who didn't respond to things in public now.

"Where is Gohan?" Leta asked as she sat the children back into Goku's arms.

"Healing."

"What happened?" Vegeta asked sourly, unhappy that he may have missed a fight.

"He gave me the last sensu bean...then I kicked his ass," Annya said, not mentioning she did it before he could transform into Super Saiyan 2 form.

"Why did you need a sensu bean?" Goku asked with concern, balancing the children.

"He kicked my ass the first time," Annya said shortly.

Bardock snorted. "Finally someone pulled the stick out of her ass."

And for his comment, his cheek got split before he could blink.

"Enough." Leta barked as she turned to Annya. "You WILL calm down. Now."

"This is being calm Leta," Annya snorted as her arms were re-crossed. "Or has becoming Queen made you change your standards too?"

King Vegeta broke in as he stepped between the two girls. He really did not want a dominance fight to break out. He knew Annya...she normally wasn't the challenging type but his zeyato's games had unbalanced her and made her doubt herself. And if she had recovered from a nearly fatal fight then she had just gained another boost of strength too. Leta's new queenship did not need to be tarnished so quickly. And it would have been because Leta wouldn't backed down at the moment either - once again the work of his zeyato going too far once again

"No. Focus."

"We have to find a way to contact the Supreme Kai guys, before the universe is destroyed," Goku butted in as well.

"Have your pissing match later." Vegeta grumbled, angry that he hadn't gotten to fight anything yet, though he second guessed what he'd just said when Leta glared at him over her shoulder.

"Where's the food?" Bardock interrupted grumpily.

Everyone turned to him and gave him a blank stare. But considering that they were a bunch of saiyans it hit a resonating idea with them all.

"We ran out," Goku said with a guilty smile as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Hn, Looks like we need to make a pit stop then. Then you can contact your Kai or whatever," Bardock said as he started to walk off. "Wake me if someone tries to blow up a planet again."

Goku smiled as he stepped out from the chamber. After four days of being trapped in the small space ship with no food (a crisis when it was a bunch of saiyans) it was nice to have room to move. Besides, he'd been feeling the hairs on the back of his neck rise for the last day and it hadn't been a very comfortable feeling.

* * *

"Man, I'm so glad we found a planet," Goku said with a smile as he turned jokingly to the sour looking Annya, "for a few minutes I thought you guys were going to eat me like you said."

"You told him?" Leta frowned as she pet her new pelt.

"His instant transmission is useful," Annya said as she held the bite in her voice back as much as she could. "Vegeta should have been the first to go. He just trains all day."

"Yes but he's also the easiest to take out." Leta argued. "You just have to smile and flick your tail and he's numb to the world. Makes it easy to snap his neck." She gestured the Vegeta, "It'd take a day or two to wear him out. I'm not going hungry waiting for him to be distractible."

"But if we had killed him," Annya pointed to Goku, "it would have alerted the other males that they were about to become food. Vegeta would have been counted as a...what do the humans call it? Crime of passionate?"

"Crime of Passion," Gohan filled in before he cleared his throat uncomfortably. He pointed to the tree line. "Maybe we should go collect some fruit? That tree looks like it has some."

The girls stared at him for a moment.

"Whoever went first, he'd be second." Leta commented. "We'd just have to have distracted him with our breasts. Then one of the males would just snap his neck too."

"Wouldn't it have just been easier to go after King Vegeta or grandpa?" Gohan asked, trying to come to terms with the fact that he was actually discussing this.

"They're wise to this means of survival," Leta explained, "We'd have to actually fight them and waste what energy we managed to garner from the three of you."

Gohan blinked. That...made sense. And the fact that it made sense scared him. He knew that the Saiyan culture had some barbaric tendencies but he hadn't thought they'd resort to cannibalism. Except...oh yeah they ate the children that came out deformed or too small before they came to Earth.

"So you were really going to eat me?" Goku asked with a hurt expression.

Bardock came back at them with an arm full of fruit. Apparently he didn't waste any time. He passed a large squash looking thing to Leta and Annya in turn but didn't toss any to the other guys around.

"Don't look so surprised," Bardock snorted before biting into his own squash looking fruit.

"Dad?!" Goku squeaked.

"What? If you'd gotten your woman pregnant, I'd've been eaten, not you." Bardock shrugged.

Juice dribbled down from the ladies' mouths as they hummed in agreement. The fruit was gone quickly and as soon as it was Bardock split one of the smaller ones in half before Leta took the halves and walked back into the ship to feed the children. When she did, Gohan noticed something.

"Did she cut her hair?"

"How else was she going to feed the kids?" Bardock scuffed. "Seriously kid you need survival training."

Gohan wasn't going to mention the fact that he'd gone through some when he was a kid with Piccolo. Apparently his survival training had been nothing to what his grandfather's generation partook in. Scary thought really.

"Hey Gohan, you want to go with me to see if there are any fish here?" Any excuse Goku got to get away from the hungry females now that he knew what they were planning, he was going to take.

"Finally, food," Vegeta grumbled as he sat around the fire on the alien planet. "I thought I was going to have to kill you, Kakarot, to get a decent meal."

For Vegeta...that was as close to a joke as he could do. But Goku's eyes widened and he looked over to Vegeta. He hadn't understood that it was Vegeta's attempt at humor.

"You too?!"

Vegeta stared at Goku, his brow furrowed. "What?"

"Why does everyone wanna eat me?!" Goku cried.

"Kakarot! Explain this!" Vegeta yelled.

Goku turned to the prince with a white face, "Well… the girls and our dads were planning to eat the three of us if we didn't find food."

Vegeta stared at Goku for a moment, thinking this was a sick joke. Then he turned to the others, none of them were laughing. In fact, Gohan appeared as shaken as Goku. It wasn't possible…

"What?!" He cried.

"It's true… though you were our reserve option." Leta admitted between bites. "It'd take too long to get you tired enough to distract you."

Vegeta grunted. "Like either of you could have distracted me."

Annya looked at him. "One blutz ball when you're tired and as soon as you advanced to Leta, I was going to rip your heart out."

Apparently they'd already planned the how and why.

"That's..." Gohan had trouble finding the right word. "Wow...that's...mean."

"The original idea was to just snap his neck, like with you two." Leta admitted, "It'd be such a waste to rip you guys into pieces while you're alive. You'd lose too much blood, and how can I feed the twins if we don't have blood?"

"Ripping out your heart would ensure that blood loss would be minimal as long as the hole didn't extend from both sides. Without a pump, humanoids will not exsanguinations as quickly."

Once again, Gohan could understand the reasoning. And once again...it was making him kind of sick.

"So what would you have done when you ate all of us?" Vegeta spat, his mood sour. "Ate each other?"

"Naw, they'd be able to get marrow out of the bones before they grind it up. Besides there's enough meat even on your scraggly ass to feed the girls and kids for a week," Bardock added before ripping off a piece of meat from something that had resembled a zebra mixed with an alligator.

King Vegeta nodded in agreement as he ripped the leg off some poultry like creature.

"You planned to eat all of us…" Vegeta growled.

"No, not all of you," Leta corrected after she swallowed a bite of meat. "Just you, Goku, and Gohan. We'd get Bardock and King Vegeta to help so we wouldn't arouse suspicion, and we'd off Goku and Gohan at the same time. Since you're usually in your chamber, you'd be none the wiser."

Vegeta stared at her for a moment, then glanced between the two older Saiyans before resting his gaze on the nodding King.

"Father?!" he cried incredulously.

"Survival of the fittest...or in this case, the most aware," King Vegeta stated without remorse. "Females are always the most vicious of any species."


	26. Chapter 26

**Of Blood and Fire**

_** Chapter 26**_

The kitchen was once again fully stocked, though with the carcasses of creatures from a planet they passed on their way to Earth. It wouldn't last them long, but it'd keep them from resorting to cannibalism. Leta sat in the kitchen, munching on whatever she could find while the twins crawled about playing with some animal bones. She'd caught Vegeta trying to take them into the gravity chamber of the ship while it was set at 100x. After a very loud reprimand, in front of his father and Bardock, she retreated to the kitchen with them where it was safe.

Leta looked up when Goku came into the room. He didn't look very happy despite the fact that he was munching on a muffin. Wait...

"Goku where did you get the muffin?"

Goku looked at her with wide eyes, "Muffin button."

She stared at him for a moment before groaning and tapping her head against the table.

Goku took a seat on the floor as there wasn't room for him at the table. This wasn't something that had been built to be living quarters for so many people after all. In fact the design had just meant to hold Goku for three months by himself while traveling to Namek. And the design hadn't changed much since then.

"Leta...what's wrong with Annya?"

Goku had asked quietly, trying to make sure that no one else overheard him. Luckily the other saiyans, sans Annya, were sparing in the main area so it would be unlikely that they'd hear anything. He didn't understand why she'd practically refused to come out of the room since they'd gotten food. And every time she did come out she was snappish...irritable. Much like Vegeta had been when he'd first gotten to Earth. No wait, she was ten times worse. At one point he thought that having and extra serving of food would have made her nicer or put her back to her calm state. He had tried to bring her some when no one was really paying attention. She had burnt it in front of his face before closing the door again.

"Hmm?" Leta hummed as she stopped administering self brain damage. "Oh… she's sad."

"She doesn't seem sad," he replied as he finished the last bite of the muffin.

"No, she hides her sadness behind anger." Leta shrugged as she rested her head on her hand. "It's what we all do."

"Except you, cause you're an emotional pansy," Bardock appeared in the doorway with a bit of a limp, looking very satisfied.

But before either could say anything he was gone again. And he left the kitchen one leg of meat down.

Leta stared at the doorway, her expression overflowing with her lack of amusement.

"Why is she sad?" Goku on the other hand hadn't been bothered by his father's intrusion.

Leta sighed, "It's hard to explain… Complicated…"

"What's so complicated? She's safe...Broly is safe," Goku counted off mentally. "Paragus isn't going to be...oh has anyone given him anything to eat?"

Leta shrugged, "Does it matter? He's scum… As for why…"

"It can't be that bad," Goku said with a naivety in his tone that couldn't be rivaled.

"Goku…" Leta sighed, "Annya values control… over herself and her thoughts…" she paused, "both of those were taken from her by Asabi and I'd guess that it reminds her too much of life before the planet blew up."

"Was her life really that bad? I know she didn't like Paragus and all but she was doing stuff she liked right?"

"Yes and no… Sure she worked in the science department but… Paragus was very, very controlling… I think, I don't know for sure but I think the only reason Broly wasn't aborted was because he had a mind control device on her."

Goku's eyes widened. He hadn't thought about that. The fact that she would have willingly gotten rid of any children from that union hadn't crossed his mind. She had made sure that they hadn't completed the baby making hug for the fact that she hadn't wanted to get pregnant. But if they had, and she had, would she have gotten rid of that kid too?

"I didn't know that."

"There's a lot you don't know," Leta replied as she stood up and stretched.

"Where're you going?" Goku asked as Leta picked up the twins.

"I'm going to check on her, we don't need her damaging the ship." She sighed, shuffling the wiggling twins around. "Can you watch them while I do that?"

"Yeah..." Goku said quietly.

He had a lot to think about.

* * *

Annya didn't even bother to look up or react to Goku as he entered the small bedroom, she was too emotionally drained. But that was alright because he didn't seem to be in the talkative mood either. In fact, all he did was sit on the unused nightstand and look at her for a few minutes. Not that she could see him looking at her so much as feel his eyes boring into the back of her neck while she scribbled onto paper some of her plans for later. Or maybe they were plans she'd already accomplished...at this point she wasn't sure.

"What?" She grumbled, getting tired of being stared at.

"He forced you to have Broly?"

"Yes, he went to the Queen and had her decree it," her voice almost seemed lifeless.

"But he used a mind control device on you after that?"

"Yes."

Goku released a deep breath as his body tensed. "What else did he do to you?"

"You mean 'what didn't he do'?"

Goku's jaw clenched, "Tell me."

"You don't want to know," at this point Annya yawned and rolled over onto her side with her back facing him.

"Annya…" Goku paused.

"What?" The whisper had the waspish sound back as her tail folded over her hip.

Goku stared at her a moment, his mind a storm of thoughts.

"Never mind." He shook his head as he stood and left.

Until he decided that he wasn't going to take no for an answer. He went over to the bed and turned her around. She didn't seem to either care or didn't have the strength to fight him at the moment. But considering the fact that her hair was still light it must have been the former over the later.

"Why did you not want to have Broly to begin with?"

"He wasn't my intended zeyato and the way he came into the position was unlawful, even by Saiyan laws."

Goku frowned, "How?"

"His younger brother was my intended Zeyato. On the mating cycle, he came up behind his brother and killed him while we were mating, taking his place. The partnership was considered valid, seeing as a Zeyato pairing is for the family... the slaying of his brother who had proven stronger that Paragus was punished for. It was a crime to attack a mating pair when dominance in the family has been established."

Goku stared at her in shock.

"Without doing what he had done, I wouldn't have mated him. Even at that time I was stronger...but not physically. Sexual dimorphism is still prevalent no matter the power level. And it is also the reason why, when not prepared, mating can be very painful. I was smaller than the former queen at the time."

Goku felt his jaw clench, nearly cracking his teeth.

"I told you. You didn't want to know," and with that she turned back around with no resistance from Goku.

With fists clenched and white knuckles, Goku took a few deep breaths before forcing his tense body to leave the room. He needed to fight. He needed to break something into tiny pieces.

* * *

Vegeta smirked as he watched Goku walk up to him, powered into his super saiyan form. Finally! A fight he w-

The prince was slammed back into the wall by what appeared to be a blood thirsty Goku. Brushing off his surprise as quickly as possible, Vegeta disregarded how enraged the other appeared to be and went in for a strike only to find himself one with the wall again. While Goku was moving over to him, Vegeta started to power up a ki blast. He would have fired it if it wasn't for the fact that Goku's hand circled around his own and started to try and break.

"You were told no ki blasts," Goku seemed to growl, very uncharacteristically.

Vegeta snarled, "What the hell is wrong with you, Kakarot?!"

"I thought you wanted to fight me," Goku smirked...sinisterly.

"This isn't a fight, Kakarot!" Vegeta argued, "You're trying to kill me!"

"Isn't that what you always wanted?" Goku asked, tilting his head down so he made the fact that he towered over Vegeta even more obvious. "For me to take it seriously?"

Goku backed up for a moment and spread his hands. He almost seemed to have the "come at me" posture. Like he knew that Vegeta couldn't do him any harm. Like he knew that for all the bravado, it really was just a show by this point.

Vegeta picked himself up without taking his eyes off of Goku. Whoever was in the chamber with him wasn't the man-child he'd grown to call his friend. Something was wrong.

"We're done." He announced as he, warily, turned his back on Goku and left.


	27. Chapter 27

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 27**_

"What have you done to Kakarot?" Vegeta snarled as he cornered Leta, who was just coming out of the bathroom with her hair still wet.

"I haven't done anything to Goku." She frowned, "What have you done to Goku?"

"Nothing! He came to me while I was training and he's finally acting like proper saiyan. You must have done something to him," Vegeta accused.

Leta furrowed her brow in confusion. "What do you mean and why is it my fault?"

Vegeta snarled and stormed away, unwilling to admit to the fact that Goku had just shown him who the dominant one really was between them. Leta stared at him as he retreated before deciding to follow him. They weren't done with this conversation.

* * *

Annya glanced at the door when Goku entered, slightly surprised to see him after what she'd told him earlier. Despite this, she didn't move to get up or even acknowledge that he'd entered the room. She didn't even move when he sat himself on the foot of her bed, his back hunched as he wrung his hands together.

"I did something bad."

"You can't do anything wrong. It's not part of what makes you, you."

"It wasn't wrong...just bad."

Annya stared at him, "There's a difference?"

Goku wrung his hands together, refusing to look at her. "I killed Paragus."

"...What?"

He took a deep breath, before repeating with more confidence. "I killed Paragus."

Annya stared at him for a moment to try to understand if he was actually serious. As far as she knew Goku had never killed outside of battle. Once a person had surrendered, or been forced to surrender, he didn't kill them. As far as she knew he even tried to keep some people alive. So the fact that he had killed Paragus didn't seem to want to sink in.

"Are you sure?"

Goku sighed and nodded, "Yeah."

"Why?" Annya sat up slowly, tucking her legs to the side of her as she stared directly at him.

"He hurt you."

There really seemed to be a disconnect between what he was saying and what she was understanding. Or maybe she had ingested some type of drug that was causing her to hallucinate.

"He was your prisoner," Annya pointed out.

"He was a monster."

"Most saiyans were."

"He was worse."

She really couldn't argue that, especially since she felt the same way. But this was Goku talking...not her. Goku was supposed to be the one to see the good in people. That was what he did regardless of how it affected others, wasn't it?

She needed a way to see if what he had claimed was true...

"Could you go get us something to eat Kakarot?" She knew very well that would get him up and out of the room.

"Hmm? Sure." He nodded and left.

Annya stood up from her bed as Goku left. But slowly, she didn't want him to know that she was going to check up on what he said. That meant she couldn't leave the room. At least not until after she ate whatever meal of the day it was with him. But that didn't mean she couldn't recruit an accomplice.

She had the door slide open and snatched Leta into the room as soon as the female saiyan passed by her. Probably on her way to see how much of a mess her children had made with the bones in the kitchen.

"He claimed he killed Paragus."

Leta blinked in confusion. "Who did what?"

Annya paused for a moment. "Goku...Kakarot...claimed that he killed Paragus. I thought you were the only one with the key to the storage room?"

...Wouldn't they have heard if he blasted the door open?

Leta stared at her a moment, her expression blank. "I'll… I'll go check…"

As soon as Leta slipped out of the door Goku came back with his arms full of food. Much more than what their usual rations for this trip was while they made their way back to New Saiya. Leta didn't say anything about that. Nor was she going to say anything about the fact that Annya was willingly participating in pre-mating behaviors by having Goku get her something to eat. Normally she'd be all over that with teasing but right now she had bigger problems to attend to. Namely her curiosity.

* * *

Vegeta gave a shout of surprise as he was grabbed and dragged towards the elevator. Looking, he found his captor to be an extremely pale Leta. Scowling, Vegeta regained his footing and allowed her to pull him by his arm, judging by her face, something was extremely wrong.

"What's going on woman?" He asked, his voice lacking it's normal bite.

Leta didn't respond immediately, instead, she waited until they were inside the elevator to turn to him. With her facing him, he could see that her pale face was painted with undisguised terror.

"I just want a second set of eyes… to make sure I'm not insane." She informed him, her voice shaking slightly.

"See what?"

Instead of telling him, Leta turned around and put the key to the elevator door so it would open. Once it did she made sure not to look into the small and camped storage space. Vegeta, however, stared straight ahead. He reached forward and pressed the button for the elevator doors to close.

Once the doors were shut, Leta turned back towards the doors, shaking slightly.

"So… I didn't see anything… did you?"

Vegeta crossed his arms, his face slowly losing color. "No."

"Okay… good…"

* * *

Annya looked up from her meal when the door opened to reveal Leta and Vegeta, both extremely pale and Leta was slightly shaking. Goku continued munching, but nodded to the two visitors. Annya made eye contacted with Leta, silently asking what was wrong and if she found anything. With a gulp, and a forced smile, Leta gave her report.

"So… Goku here _couldn'_t have gotten into the storage room. He _obviously_ wasn't the one who strangle Paragus with his own tail and then painted the walls with his entrails and carpeted the floor with his blood…_ Obviously _not… I didn't see _any_ of that down there. Right Vegeta?" She glanced towards the prince who hadn't taken his eyes off of Goku since they entered the room.

He grunted.

"See, the witness agrees… Goku obviously didn't kill Paragus in a horrible violent manner even by Saiyan standards." Leta finished with a forced smile and a shuddering breath.

"Yes I did," Goku said between bites. "Bastard deserved it."

And for a moment there was a stunned silence over the fact that Goku cussed. Then the realization that he admitted to doing it set in at about the same time he passed Annya another roasted wing looking thing.

"Goku…" Leta hesitated, "You can't do things like that…"

"Why not?" Goku asked without pause as he swallowed something purple. "He didn't need to be alive anymore...so I got rid of him."

"You tortured him to death… Played with him like a cat with a mouse…" Leta paused, "You acted just like Broly…"

"He deserved it," was his only defense as he stared at the two of them, unmoved by the topic.

"Goku, you're acting like Broly!" Leta screamed, "You can't do that! You're good! You have a good heart! You're not a monster!"

"No, he was. And that pissed me off," Goku explained, sounding very un-Goku like.

Leta looked at him, her expression near tears almost. "Goku… Where did your sunshine go?"

"Annya needed it," Goku replied as he rolled his shoulders.

"What did Annya need?" Bardock asked as he stood behind both Vegeta and Leta in the hallway.

"Goku killed Paragus… by torturing him for pleasure." Leta explained, her voice cracking lightly.

Bardock looked between the group like they were crazy, "He did wha-"

"He tortured Paragus for me," Annya supplied in a quiet voice as though she didn't believe it herself.

"And then I killed him," Goku stated.

Bardock looked between them all with a growing state of alarm.

"Which one of you got him drunk?!"

"What has Kakarot being drunk have to do with this?" Vegeta finally spoke up from his silent stupor.

"This is how he acts when he's drunk… that's why it's against the law to get him drunk." Bardock admitted, slightly concerned.

"… It's a law? Since when?" Leta asked, confused.

"Since King Vegeta and I got him drunk back on earth… You all were busy and we were bored…" Bardock paused, "He called me a bastard and insulted the king… then we had to follow him around… that dragon never saw him coming…"

"What dragon?" Gohan asked from behind Bardock, successfully crowding the narrow hallway.

Goku stared ahead, clearly unhappy with something but no one really had the attention to figure out what it was. Even Annya, who was still eating, was paying more attention to the fact that Bardock admitted to getting his son drunk and not liking the consequences.

"A purple one he said had been annoying him for years."

"...Icarus?" Gohan offered up with a shocked expression.

"Yeah, that thing."

Gohan's shocked expression quickly morphed into one of horror. "Dad… Dad killed Icarus?!"

Goku snorted, acting for a moment like he didn't care that he had just upset Gohan. In fact he was acting as though he seemed to lack a human sense of compassion...like he hadn't been raised on Earth. That or his mind was filled with too many aggressive impulses and flooded by different chemicals to think through them. The world may never know.

"So who got him drunk?" Bardock demanded again, blocking Gohan out of the conversation by shifting into a wider stance.

"No one…" Leta hesitated. "I don't think…"

"The ship doesn't carry alcohol Bardock," Annya said dully. "Now why are all of you still crowding the doorway?"

Bardock's expression changed with that revelation, turning to one of slight horror. "You mean…"

"Mean what?" Goku was obviously not happy that his meal was still being interrupted.

Bardock stared at his son for a moment before turning his attention to the others. "What have you done to my son?!"

"You're trying to blame this on us?" Vegeta steamed as he turned around and backed up into the room simultaneously to stare up at the larger man.

"Yeah," Bardock snapped back. "Cause only an idiot would want him like this."

"Guys..." Gohan's voice echoed from behind Bardock.

Bardock and Vegeta exchanged snorts, grunts, small insults and or witty sarcastic remarks for a moment. That was before Vegeta was swept out of the room by a backhand to the back of the head. Unprepared as the saiyan prince was, he flew forward - taking Bardock with him until they hit the curved hallway's wall. The door closed behind them. Goku had apparently had enough of their bickering while he was eating.

Gohan stood over the guys as they started to pick themselves up. "I tried to warn you."

Leta moved over to them with a glare marring her expression. She tapped her foot on the floor to get attention. All the guys turned to look towards her - Vegeta the more perturbed of the lot.

"He put me out of the room," Leta said snappishly. "This needs to be fixed."

"How?" Vegeta snarled, "Have you forgotten he's the strongest thing alive aside from that monster Broly?!"

"About that..." Gohan said nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Did you know that you can go super saiyan when you're in the big m-uh...full moon transformed state?"

The three pure blooded Saiyans stared at him with blank expressions.

"What?" Bardock muttered.

"Explain boy." Vegeta grunted.

Leta stayed silent.

"Yeah. It was intense," Gohan started as tried to ready himself for the inevitable blow up. "It was like going super saiyan for the first time but almost like it wasn't me for a moment. Kind of like when I broke you on your first visit to Earth, Vegeta."

The three stared at him with varying degrees of shock, interest and –in Vegeta's case- humiliation.

"Then it all starts to converge and there's just so much power at my fingertips," Gohan said as he tried to recall at least a part of the experience. "When I finally got an idea of who I was...and what I was doing again, I started to shrink back down. I don't know what to call it but it was almost like a hybrid form with the humanoid form as the dominant expression."

"When?" Leta asked with a bit of hesitation in her voice.

Something that had the strength of an Oozaru burst plus the multiplying effects of the Super saiyan form was not something Gohan should have been experimenting with. How had they not felt it? After all, even with her rudimentary sensing skills she would have felt something that massive.

"When the songs were going on I guess?"

"Why didn't we know about this?"

Vegeta growled, "Boy. Don't tell me you used the Hyperbolic time chamber."

Gohan laughed nervously. It was easy to tell that he was guilty of what Vegeta accused him of.

"The what?" Leta asked, mirroring Bardock's look of confusion.

"It's a place where you can go where you can train for a year, but only a day passes on the outside world," the half-saiyan stated matter-of-factually.

Leta stared at him incredulously while Bardock smirked at the thought of training there.

"And you're just telling us now?" Vegeta definitely was not a happy camper.

"It wasn't important before," Gohan argued.

"But it is now…" Leta muttered.

"So what are we waiting for? Put the ship on a planet so the boy can wrangle Kakarot in."

Bardock snorted, "Yeah. And get the rest of us killed."

"What?" Vegeta snapped as he turned to stare at Bardock.

"Didn't you hear him? He has to transform with the _moon_ idiot," Bardock replied in a condescending tone.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Vegeta came back at him, his power flaring in anger of being mocked.

"The women will go into heat," King Vegeta's voice supplied the answer as he came out of the kitchen. The red of his cape coming to a stop behind him more or less matched the blush forming on poor Gohan's face.

"Then… How the hell do we stop Kakarot?" He snarled in an attempt to save face.

"He seemed kind of happy before everyone went back into the room," Gohan pointed out. "Maybe until we can figure out why he's acting so weird, we can just keep in him the room and give him food."

"Not a good idea." Bardock shook his head. "Even with his woman in there, he'll force his way out eventually."

The group fell silent, each pondering their options. After a moment, Gohan's face lit up again.

"I've got it!"

"We can't put a leash on him either." Leta rolled her eyes.

"No! No… why would we do that…" Gohan muttered. "No, there may be someone who can help."

"Who?" King Vegeta asked.

Gohan smiled before looking to the ceiling and shouting "King Kai! King Kai can you hear me?!"

"Have you gone insane?" Bardock growled.

Gohan didn't even glance at his grandfather. "Hey! King Kai! We could use some help!"

Before Bardock could continue to rant about his grandson's apparent loss of sanity, a voice echoed through the hall.

"_**Hi Gohan, I thought I heard you calling. What's up? Earth isn't in trouble again, is it?"**_

Gohan laughed a little. He didn't know the kai as well as his father but he'd heard plenty of stories about him. What was even better was the fact that this kai seemed to want to actually help them unlike the so called "Supreme" kai.

"Well you can say that...My dad's acting funny and that can be a problem since he's starting to get violent. He didn't pick up any space rabies while he was away did he?"

"There's no such thing as 'space rabies'." Leta corrected.

"_**That is correct, Queen Leta, there's no such thing as space rabies."**_ King Kai chuckled. _**"And I see what you mean about violent…"**_

"So yeah, any idea what caused it?"

_**"Well Gohan, it seems like his personalities split. And I know what you should give him!" **_

The group paused for a moment as if expecting a miraculous handing down of knowledge. But all they hear was snickering.

"What can we give him King Kai?" Gohan prompted.

_**"A Banana Split! Get it? Monkey...split!" **_

Gohan sweat dropped while the full blooded Saiyans scowled.

"King Kai, now's not the time for jokes… This is a serious problem." Gohan explained.

King Kai cleared his throat, though why they could hear that over a telepathic connection no one knew. Even King Kai probably didn't know.

_**"He's still Goku and there's nothing wrong with him but his mind feels different. Like all the happy human thoughts have been blocked or put somewhere that he can't reach.**_"

Vegeta's fist clenched as they stood in the hallway. He really was an angry boy today. Must be because he wasn't getting his fresh air and exercise.

"Yes, we could see that! Do you have any other brilliant observations?" Vegeta called out, tilting his head back to yell at the air.

"_**Gheez, don't get your tail in twist! Unlike you I'm doing two things at once!"**_

Vegeta growled in response as Bardock wondered off, clearly no longer interested in the conversation.

_**"Oh...oooooh. He's been using the instant transmission too much. And there's something else here - song? Oh hey, maybe we should note this down. Get it? Note...song?"**_

"King Kai…" Gohan face palmed.

_**"Wait. Something's missing here. Goku's a complex guy and all but even he would have needed something to tri-"**_ at that point all they heard was something akin to a sizzle and a few sounds of pain.

Apparently Goku finally decided that someone had been poking their antennae where they didn't belong.


	28. Chapter 28

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 28**_

Bulma smiled as she opened up the door to her house, letting Videl in. The younger woman looked almost perturbed as she searched for something to say. But it was easy to see where her mind was. Or at least it was for Bulma - she had a lot of practice with Vegeta.

"So what brings you here?" Bulma asked.

Honestly she like the visit. Her parents, as old as they were, pretty much kept to themselves now a days so other than Trunks and Goten the house was quiet. And it had been that way since Goku had convinced the others to drop her off when they went to search for Annya. That had been roughly ten weeks ago.

"I just wanted to know where Gohan was. He used to hang out here a lot when you guys were trying to figure out the cure for whatever the hell was infecting everyone." Of course there was a conflicted look on Videl's face as the memories of what the cure actually was filtered through her mind.

"Gohan? He hasn't been on earth in three months." Bulma shrugged.

"Why?" Videl asked as she looked at the older woman, trying to find an explanation. "I know we got in a fight...but he can't be that mad at me...he came back and sa-"

She cut herself off, her pride getting in the way of admitting to the fact that he had saved her aloud. It wasn't that she wasn't grateful but it was embarrassing. So what if she was weak in comparison to Gohan and the rest of them? So what that when she hit him she broke her own hand? She was Videl Satan! Not some dame that needed to be saved all the time. It was only made worse when he wouldn't take her with him like he didn't think she could handle where he was (apparently) living? The comment about the full moon went over her head of course, as she focused on the fact that Gohan told her she wouldn't have survived on the new planet for Saiyans.

"Is he ever going to come back?" Videl grumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Or have the high and mighty saiyans decided that Earth isn't good enough for them anymore?"

"The Saiyans found their own planet to call home since there's no way Earth could sustain them." Bulma commented. "As for Gohan… who knows? You lose track of time when you're in space."

"Yeah right," Videl scuffed. "How can he go off into space and move planets anyways? He isn't even old enough to vote!"

"Well… He's been going into space since he was a kid. We went to Namek when he was five."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. He was risking his life while we were still all in diapers," Videl said in a dismissive, bitter tone.

"Hey. He and Goku have sacrificed most of their lives to keep us all safe," Bulma said in a lightly scolding voice. "Just because you're just now getting to find this all out doesn't mean that they're trying to boast...so I don't want to hear your complaining."

Videl frowned but didn't retort.

"In fact you should be happy that they're not here right now," Bulma said, "because it means that they're saving the world again...and that when they come back, it means he missed you."

Videl's face went slack, her mind registering what she said. "It's happened before?"

Bulma's serious expression faded as a smile filled her face. It was sort of a sad smile. But at the same time happy. Perhaps the best way to describe it was wistful. Her question brought back a rush of memories and feelings. Not only from Goku...but...in a way even from Vegeta. Sure it wasn't the all encompassing love and fidelity that she had always dreamed of as a kid but there was just something about that man that kept her coming back. But she supposed that was her life. And it was the life that Videl was apparently finding a way into.

"Yeah. This happens a lot...the guys kind of go off but its always for a good reason. Even if it's for training, you know? Because in the end they were always training to protect the world. And Gohan has kind of followed in those footsteps. How could he not? He grew up in this crazy group."

Videl nodded, partially out of agreement. "I guess that makes sense…"

Bulma smiled a bit more mischievously, "Plus all the fighting makes them pretty to look at don't you think?"

Videl's blush was so cute that Bulma couldn't help but laugh. Oh to be young and innocent...the fact that she was never as bashful as Videl wasn't the point.

"Of course you gotta be careful," Bulma nodded but couldn't help the cat-and-cannery smile as she watched Videl squirm, "because those muscles are for way more than show. I've kind of got used to how strong the guys are naturally...something with all the ki strengthening them but Saiyans are something else. Still it means that when you do get there you'll-"

"BULMA!" Videl said with wide eyes as her mouth dropped open. "I do not want to hear about that!"

"What? They don't teach you about sex with aliens in school, where else are you going to learn this?" Bulma smirked.

"I don't...I mean we don't..." Videl stuttered as the blush on her face made a nice tomato impression, "it's not like that Bulma! I didn't come here for sex advice!"

"You should still listen to my advice," Bulma replied with a sly smile.

"He's not even here so it doesn't matter anyways!" Videl blurted out in her embarrassment.

"But he'll come home eventually." Bulma rebutted.

"He doesn't see me like that Bulma!" Her hands were thrown up in the air until she realized what she said and then they were back by her side, with her mouth clenched closed and her lips pressed together.

"So you admit it...you want him to."

"That's not… I mean… Quit putting words in my mouth!" Videl stuttered.

Bulma bent over lightly as she wagged her finger at Videl playfully. "Nut uh Videl. You're not going to get to take that back."

"Gheeze, you're just like Erasa," Videl mumbled as she tried to stop blushing.

Bulma smirked, "You're never too old for girl talk."

"You're old enough to be my mother," Videl grumbled.

"I'm not a bad substitute." Bulma shrugged, "You can't get a chat like this out of dads anyway."

Videl groaned as she suddenly remembered something. "My dad would never let me live it down or get out of the house if he heard any of this. I still haven't told him that I knew about the virus or anything...I've been lying so much to him lately."

For some reason...the usual safe guards she had up for conversation almost felt like they'd been blasted in half. Maybe that was Bulma's special power...maybe that was why she'd fit in with the fighters for so long. She tore down their mental barriers and wedged herself somewhere inside of them like the ultimate armor.

"And as strange as it sounds, you should keep that up. It'd be safer for everyone involved, especially our sexy Saiyan friends." Bulma smiled.

"Can you stop bringing that up?" Videl asked with the same type of groan from earlier. "It's not like it even matters."

"Have you been paying attention? It's the only thing that matters!"

"What?" Videl asked, dumbfounded.

"Gohan is used to being one of the strongest people and used to people liking him because of everything that goes with that. I bet if you show him that you actually _like_ him that you'll throw him off his game and wham!" Bulma smashed her hands together as she smiled, "He'll be yours."

"But… I…" Videl stuttered.

"And I know just how you can do it too! Ask him to teach you something - he got all flustered and worried when he had to teach you to fly. It was cute. But this time just go for it and kiss him!" The blue haired scientist was getting way too into this for her own good.

"But… I can't do that!" Videl chocked as she turned red all over again.

"Sure you can," Bulma encouraged and then she seemed to pause. "Don't tell me...you've never kissed a boy. I'm right aren't I?"

Videl's silence was the only answer she needed.

"Hmm...come to think of it, I don't think Gohan has kissed anyone. Which is a bit backwards since he's seen some naked..." Bulma was lost in her thoughts so much that she'd forgotten that Gohan probably hadn't wanted Videl to know any of that in fear of her thinking him a pervert.

"Wh-what?" Videl chocked.

"What? Oh - oh, yeah, not like that Videl. Don't worry."

"What do you mean 'not like that'?!"

"Well… he was stuck on a tiny ship with me for 3 months on the way to Namek… 18 wasn't always skilled in normal modesty… and if you hadn't noticed, saiyans don't care if they're naked or not."

"You mean Leta and Annya?"

Bulma nodded, "Yeah. You should have seen his face when they were all laying-"

Videl's eyes popped open, "WHAT?"

Bulma winced, "Okay, I keep making it sound wrong. It was just all in the name of science! I was mapping out the different muscular structures of saiyans, half saiyans, and humans when I was trying to figure out all the differences between our two species and to make it quicker I had them all come in at once. And it wasn't like he was comfortable or anything laying on the examination table."

She was going to fudge on a few details. She had a feeling Chichi would come back from her grave and haunt her if she ever said what she saw aloud. Especially in front of Videl.

Videl blinked, "Oh… That kinda makes sense… but…"

"Yeah. He's a good boy don't worry about that. Even when the girls kept going into heat he avoided going near them...same can't be said of Goku or Vegeta," Bulma grumbled - her alliance based friendship with Leta had been fun while it lasted but right now, she still felt sore and jealous.

"Heat? Saiyans go into heat?"

"Only the girls," Bulma said dismissively. "The guys just smell it or whatever with the heightened sense of smell they have. And then react from that...hey...wait...does that mean that Vegeta knew I would get pregnant with Trunks?!"

And it was at that point that Videl had lost Bulma as the scientist started to mutter to herself and plan out how to find out as though there wasn't another person in the room with her.

* * *

Leta closed the door behind her as she stepped into the small bedroom. For the better part of a few days, Goku (whom seemed more suited to his saiyan name Kakarot at this point) had been very aggressive. To the point that the similarities between Bardock and he were larger than the differences. And the differences were only noticeable when he wasn't around the other guys. Gohan was a partial exception - sometimes he treated the teenager like all the rest, and other times he treated him like his son. But that wasn't what worried her. What worried Leta now was that she could feel the blutz waves of sunlight being refracted off of Earth's moon through the spaceship walls. They hadn't insolated the ship yet...and she was beginning to understand how this could be a problem.

"Annya, we need to land."

Annya looked at her. "Because of our heat?"

"Yes. Kakarot wants to continue onto New Saiya."

"I agree, we should simply continue home." Annya commented.

"And let the darkness of Goku's soul out on my planet? No, I think we can agree that reviving the Saiyan race should be avoided." Leta scowled.

"What makes you think he'll kill them?" Annya asked as she at her pencil aside. "He's more aggressive. He's not a killer."

"The mess we had to clean out of storage says otherwise… I refuse to take any chances." Leta crossed her arms, "How is that you keep attracting the psychopaths? Are you a magnet?"

"Perhaps," Annya said with a light form of amusement. "My son...Gohan...Goku."

"Goha-" Leta stopped herself. "Never mind. We will discuss issues involving him later. Right now we need to deal with Kakarot."

Leta held very still as the door opened behind her. She knew exactly who had come back into the room.

"Deal with me how?" Kakarot asked as he towered above her.

Leta stared for a moment before her mind began working again, "Deal with… our destination plans! Yes, I'm sure the young ones miss us, you especially." Leta paused, "Perhaps we should stop by Earth to see them and inform them we need to find the Supreme Kai."

"Goten?" Kakarot mumbled as he seemed to try and concentrate.

"Yes, Goten!" Leta said with a smile as she stepped forward, trying to get out from under him.

"Probably wants to see Gohan more than any of us."

"Now now," Leta tutted as she turned to face him, "He's your son, without you there he has no one to train him and whatnot… We both know Gohan isn't the proper type to be training him."

Kakarot crossed his arms over his chest as he looked down at her. "He won't train him. He hasn't even been training himself in years."

"It would be a shame for the boy to end up like your first born don't you agree? All bookish and timid?" Leta egged him on this line of thinking, hoping to distract him from what was soon to be an inevitable state.

Annya knew better than to put her two sense in at the moment so she quite literally bit her own tongue on the subject.

"It was Chichi's fault, not mine," Kakarot said dismissively. "When I was there, Gohan was much stronger."

"Exactly! You have a second chance to show that you can have strong sons too!" Was the dark haired females response.

Kakarot seemed to think it over for a moment.

"And… you can prove you're a better father than Vegeta… or Bardock." Leta continued.

Kakarot smirked and nodded, "Sure, sure. We'll stop on Earth and pick the tyke up or something."

Leta smiled brilliantly as he turned away. His tail swayed behind his back as he walked away.

"And Leta?" Kakarot called out, stopping in the hallway right before Leta re-shut the door to the bedroom.

"Yeah?"

He turned to look over his shoulder, giving her the very Goku smile. "Next time you go into heat and want me to land on a planet...you just have to say so."


	29. Chapter 29

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 29**_

"Huh… Is that their space ship?" Videl asked, staring out the window at the sphere that was landing in the yard of Capsule Corp.

Bulma looked up from her work, "Yup! I told you they always come back."

There was smile on Videl's face until Bulma noticed and nudged her with her elbow. At that point the young fighter decided that she looked entirely too pleased that they were back. She didn't want Gohan to think she'd forgotten everything after all - he still had a lot to answer for. Still, she could only stay mad at him for so long and she did miss him...four months was a long time not to see a friend. Especially someone she had felt so close to.

The sphere finally seemed to settle down and a moment later the front hatch opened up. As the saiyans filed out, Videl started to wonder just how cramped they must have felt in there. It barely looked big enough for two people much less seven adults and two babies!

The first to hurry over to Leta and she stood right in front of Bulma. "Bulma. We need to fix Goku."

Bulma stared at Leta, her smile not hiding her contempt for the woman. "Oh, and how did you break him?"

"I did nothing." Leta corrected her face stony. "He's simply not Goku anymore."

"That's ridiculous," Bulma said as she rolled her eyes, her arms crossing in a more defensive manner than playful. "Goku hasn't changed much since he was a boy. I doubt four months in space with you did anything to him."

"Not me," the black haired saiyan queen replied in a grave tone.

"What are you talking about?" Videl butted in.

Leta ignored Videl, "I'm not the reason he snapped and decided to use Paragus' entrails as decorations."

"He did what?" Videl, oh persistent Videl.

"What are you talking about?" Bulma said in a tight tone. "Why would he do something like that?"

Kakarot finally sauntered close enough to hear what they were saying properly. "Because he pissed me off. If anyone needs me, I'll be taking a bath."

Videl's eyes were the only ones that nearly popped out of her head as he started taking off his clothes while he walked into the house. Gohan laughed nervously as he and the other saiyans (including the babies) made their way over.

"...wait, that wasn't Bardock?" Bulma asked after a moment of staring at the older saiyan who looked like Goku plus some scars.

"No, need more proof?" Leta snapped, "Check the storage room, there's still viscera hanging from the walls. We could only clean so much…"

"What...I mean..." Bulma was at a loss for words as she tried to think what this meant. "Okay, so is it a full new personality or is someone else in his body?"

"Someone else in his body?" Videl echoed in confusion.

Gohan looked at her with uncertainty, "Come on Videl...I'll explain it inside. You look ready to faint."

She followed him inside, making sure not to step on Kakarot's abandoned clothes on the way, without question. Which left a very concerned and confused Bulma with the rest of them outside.

"Our theory is a split personality," Leta started, "seeing as we were informed that this is how Goku acts when he's drunk."

Bulma shuddered at the memory.

* * *

Annya and Leta sat side by side in the room. It was a place downtown, pretty far away from Bulma's house actually. And it was dark - the only lights coming from computer readouts and the machine behind them. Speaking of behind them, Kakarot was laying down on said machine bed. His head was held inside of the chamber as many different lights swirled about.

"Is this done yet?" Kakarot called out.

"Not yet," Leta said in a terse voice.

"Hurry up, this is boring."

"Just hold on...after this, we'll _both_ spar with you okay?" Leta offered up.

That might not have been the best idea considering the fact that they were both still in heat, but anything she could say to get him to shut up for a few minutes was worth it. And for the most part Kakarot was quiet when she said that. So Leta was just going to put that in the win pile for now and hope it didn't screw her up later.

"See," Annya said as she pointed to the area of his brain that was lit up the most. "Heightened aggression and arousal...but his frontal cortex is still functional."

"Meaning?" Leta asked.

"Meaning, strictly speaking, he has more brain activity than he should be having. The increase in brain activity doesn't seem to have any ill effects. Except for his personality switch."

Annya frowned as she used her fingers to spread the image, pulling the active centers of his brain into focus more. Then she went in deeper to search through the really active dendrites and axons. she even made sure to click the freeze button so she could try and trace which parts were interacting the most at the very moment without them changing. Plus she heard Kakarot starting to get up and she didn't want her visual to disengage just because he decided he didn't want to lay down anymore.

"Kakarot..." Leta said in a slow voice as she turned her chair around.

Kakarot tilted his head in acknowledgement as he put his hands on Annya. She still for a moment but kept her focus on the screen. That was, until he turned her around and stepped back to look between both girls.

"I'm fine. Stop worrying," he told the both of them with a serious tone.


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N:** Alright, I may have told people that this chapter would be interesting...and it still might be...but not in the way I was intending. Instead there is a new sort of interesting on the rise. Hope you all like it. And the next chapter will get the son verses father bit so be on the look out!

* * *

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 30**_

Leta's fingers worked behind her, situating her customary fashion corset over her body. All the while she couldn't help but wonder if what they were doing was such a smart idea. Sure it was tradition, and sure she missed it, but...she had the sense that this wasn't going to work so well. Still she was Queen and what she wanted to do, she would do.

"Stupid Goku," Leta mumbled to herself as she dropped her hands.

Annya walked into the bedroom without knocking. It was, after all, both Leta's and her loft that they shared while on Earth. And seeing as how she had paid in advance for a few months...they had it until the end of the year.

"Ready to go?"

"You sure there will actually be people there?" Leta asked.

"It's been long enough for a small population within the city to return to their habits. Plus the club's lights are back on."

Leta nodded as she picked up her makeup back, dumping out the contents on the desk in the middle of the room. Looking down she grabbed the stuff she was in the mood to wear.

"So is Kakarot going to stop us?" Leta brought up as she outlined her eyes.

"If you keep saying his name..." Annya said in a droll tone as she waited for the Queen of Saiyans to finish putting on her makeup.

Leta grunted as she sat the supplies down. The implied idea behind what Annya was saying was probably true. If she kept using his name, it was doubtful that Kakarot wouldn't think something was up. And if he did they would be in for some opposition. Now that wasn't something that Leta was up to tolerate. Especially not after going to the trouble of saddling the kids with Vegeta. They may have only been on Earth for a few hours but she could already feel her heat like an undeniable truth waiting to make a mess of reality. It would be good to separate herself from the strong...muscular...delic-

Leta blinked when she felt Annya tug at her hair. Right, no thinking about the guys. Otherwise her scent would spike more than it has and that might cause a war between whomever catches it. And with the way Kakarot was behaving he would probably dominate the other without guilt. Like any decent male would. And then he would come up and-

"Stop it."

Blinking, Leta looked over to Annya.

"Go to hell," Leta grumbled, using one of her favorite human phrases without pause.

The older female barely looked affected by the fact that she was in heat and there could be males fighting for the opportunity to keep her if she wanted. Damn her for her self control. Leta might be Queen but she doubted she would ever have the level of self control that her companion had. Which was funny considering that her son had none of his own. A son that the redheaded saiyan still refused to kill.

"I'd rather go to the club," Annya replied in a dull, seemingly humorous tone.

"Go to hell," Leta repeated grumpily as she folded her arms.

Annya sighed and opened the window. The moon was high in the sky but thankfully their room faced away from it. This way they could get to their transportation so they didn't transform from an accidental lunar peep.

* * *

Gohan turned his attention over to Hercule Satan as the large (for a human anyway) man blustered himself up. It was hard not to wince at the accusing stare that this man was giving him. It wasn't like he posed a threat or anything, nothing like that. It was just that the man did a terrific job of making Gohan feel unwelcome and out of place. Especially since he had drawn attention to the fact that Gohan had finished the large pasta based dinner within the matter of minutes. He had called him starving and mentioned the fact that it was no wonder he was so skinny. Which was why Gohan was staring at him now.

"I bet you couldn't even bench half my weight with how small you are," Hercule said in that loud, laughing voice of his.

Gohan tried to keep the look of disbelief off of his face and stay humble. If that were only true he wouldn't have bruised Videl's wrist the last time he had touched her. If he was as weak as Hercule thought him to be he wouldn't have to worry about keeping his legs still so that he didn't simulate an earthquake with his nervous energy. But he had to remind himself that Hercule didn't know who and what he really was. And that both he and Videl had agreed that it was probably for the best that he kept that idea up. Without outright lying of course.

He had to keep up the human act. Which was a reason why he had rushed to pick a seat with his back to the large dinning room window.

"-break you like a toothpick."

Yes he had zoned out. But who could blame him? He could practically feel the moonlight on his back, tickling his skin. He knew that it was beautiful. He knew that it lit up the night sky with delightful promises. And he also knew that Videl would not appreciate him transforming to something the size of a high rise building while still inside her house. She wouldn't exactly have a house after that. Not to mention that seeking out the girls would be a very real possibility. Which would only provoke his dad and Gohan wasn't ready to see how much damage the Earth would suffer if they got into a serious dominance fight on the full moon.

His tail, disguised as his belt, tightened around him as he tried to squish the guilty thrill he had gotten at that idea.

"-Not good for Videl to hang around with such skinny weaklings."

Videl's hands slammed into the table as she called out to her father in defense of Gohan. All the while said boy in question just stared at the man in disbelief. Okay so he knew that measurement wise he was not as thickly built as his father. Nor did he seem to have as many muscles as Hercule to the average onlooker.

But even based on his 9 year old self, Gohan knew that most people hadn't thought he was frail when he wore the clothing that Piccolo had given him. He knew that he had been mistaken as older often enough that he had just come to accept it as fact. After all, his muscular structure had matured faster than humans regardless. It had to have with all the training he put himself through when he was younger. Not to mention the super saiyan transformations.

He had never been asked for ID at the store when running errands for his mother. Nor had anyone offered to help him with carrying them. So he knew that prior to attending Orange Star High School no one had mistaken him for frail.

Gohan frowned in thought. Did his street clothes and school uniform really make him look that small? Or was it just Mr. Satan's personal biases? That last one seemed more likely. Maybe he should prove Hercule Satan wrong by effortlessly beating him. But then again at the world tournament, Annya and Leta had ripped his sleeves off and tore a section from the upper torso to expose his chest. They claimed that the visual reminder of strength would help sooth and comfort Videl when the freaky bastard had broken her.

"That's it. Gohan beat his ass so we can just get going."

Gohan's eyes widened as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Sure he had passively thought that might have been a good idea but he would have never thought Videl would actually suggest it!

Anxiously, Gohan rubbed the back of his head. "I don't think that's such a good idea right now Videl."

"At this rate Erasa will never let us forget that we were late."

"Yeah but..." The moon was still singing promises to all his energy senses.

It was Hercules turn to stand up, slamming his palms down on the sturdy table. "Now wait a minute Videl! If you think this boy can defeat me, you've got to be delirious!"

Videl snorted moodily as she crossed her arms.

"I can't even believe you said that! You know your dad is the world champion - this cowered couldn't even touch me!"

Gohan's eye twitched. He put up with a lot but he hated being called a coward.

"Why I could-"

Gohan stood up from the table, wiping his mouth with a napkin. He had faced more than this man or planet would ever know. Just because he didn't boast about it didn't mean he was afraid to let others know. Not now at least. Plus it wasn't like anyone would believe him anyways. Hercule looked at him in surprise for a moment as a serious expression stilled Gohan's face.

Now that they were all standing, Videl looked absolutely smug. Gohan looked over to her for a moment, his expression softening. She really wanted him to take her dad down a notch. What she didn't understand was that she could do it herself. She couldn't do any ki blasts yet but she had exceeded the majority of humans - including her father. How could she not understand that?

"So what are you waiting for?" Videl questioned as she looked between the two of them.

Hercule straightened himself up and his hands folded around his belt. There was still a good posture to him, Gohan noted, because despite it all Hercule was still a martial art's master. He was great by human standards. Just not so good when put up against galactic standards. Or saiyan standards if someone wanted a more limited range. Then again...not many species could be pit up against a saiyan warrior and come out the better as Gohan knew very well.

"Close the curtain Videl," Gohan said as he cleared his voice.

She looked at him confused but Hercule took it as a moment to laugh. Gohan looked back at him as he tried to figure out what was so funny or confusing about that request. Sure it was a little strange but that didn't seem all that odd to him. He just didn't want to catch a glimpse of the moon accidentally.

"Afraid someone will see you get knocked on your face?" Hercule brought up with that over boastful tone of his.

"No."

Videl looked at him for a moment more before continuing over to the curtains. She didn't know why Gohan wanted them closed but if it was that important to him she didn't care either way. Maybe he wanted to keep their family image up or something - not that there were too many night visitors now a day. Oh well as long as they got to meet up with Erasa and Sharpner at the club before they started carding.

"Thanks. I didn't want to accidentally break your house," Gohan said with a polite smile as he looked back to Videl.

"You're going to explain that later Gohan. Right now I just want to get out of the house," Videl said in utmost seriousness.

"Right."


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N:**chibi and I have started a new divergent story for this seies. It's a dbz and bleach crossover that follows a version of Leta that would have occured if Annya hadn't been around. Its called "Saiyan Saga: Kill it with Bleach" and is posted under her name.

I have also started on a story to show Annya's relationship with Broly prior to meeting with the Zfighters. Its posted on the account and is called "Saiyan Saga: Forming a Bond". Also if you guys hadn't noticed the rating of this and the prior story were readjusted to be lower. This is because all limes or lemons will be seperated and housed in "Saiyan Saga:Move Your Body".

* * *

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter thirty-one**_

The music blurred together into one long stream of beats, phasing into the next so smoothly that it was hypnotic. The lights both dim and flashing in random intervals at the same time, filling the warm dance floor with confusing information for all the senses. It was the type of place that attracted all kinds of people - some who liked the thrill, some who were looking for a one night stand, and others who liked the familiar.

Leta smiled wickedly as she tossed back another shot. It was beyond amusing to see the look that the humans gave her as she swallowed the liquor just as well as any of their males. And when they kept trying to buy her shots to see how much of her clothing she'd loose that night it was a thrill. It was all a game and she loved playing. But she wasn't the only one playing a game tonight. Oh no, the full moon was a time of games for both saiyan females.

Out on the floor Annya used the humans and the music to shake off some energy. Her body moved like any of those around her and her tail disguised as a fur trim at the top of her skirt. She wrapped an arm around the blond male behind her, looping it behind his neck as she continued to dance. It didn't matter that she didn't know him prior to literally bumping into him a moment ago. All that mattered was releasing some of the pent up tension...normally she had a her regular human with her but she hadn't seen him since giving him the cure. Nor did she think it would have been that great of an idea.

"Hey, you want to get a drink?" The male from behind her asked though she barely heard him.

Nodding, Annya started waling forward. The male wrapped an arm around her back, clasping her upper arm with his hand. He was about as tall as Gohan so the height difference didn't seem that extreme to Annya but to others it no doubt looked like he was trying to encompass her with that 'dominating' gesture. Annya smiled to herself. As if a human could dominate her.

When they got to the bar, finding Leta was easy. She was amidst a larger group of people crowding the bar. No doubt another drinking competition with plenty of lurid phrases being tossed around. Leta seemed to thrive on the attention. Or she might have thrived on the fact that she got to beat everyone hands down.

While Alcohol affected Saiyans just the same as humans, the duration of effect was drastically shorter due to their metabolism. Leta knew that - she, like Annya, also knew that it was a false sense of security. It meant that alcohol passed through quickly but it also meant that they got dehydrated at a much quicker rate than humans. Hopefully Leta remembered to down a bottle of water or two during her game.

"What do you like babe?" The blond male asked.

Annya stared at him for a moment and tilted her head. She didn't exactly like him that was for sure. Sure, she knew he was asking about her drink preference but the redhead couldn't help but take the time to scrutinize him. His body was defined and strong by human standards but the way he stood told her just how much fighting skill he lacked. He was confident in his looks and physique but he wasn't the kind that could dominant a scene when he squared off. His chin was off too - humans might have considered it attractive for the bottom of the chin to be farther from the mouth but all it meant that it would be easier to break because there was less compact stability. And his hair...god, why did humans think hair like silk was attractive?

"Rum," Annya said with a calm look on her face.

She liked the burn as it ran down her throat, giving the almost sickly sweet taste. He ordered the drink and something of his own, flashing what Annya was pretty sure was a fake ID. But she really didn't care for that he was what humans considered underage. He was, as far as she could tell, mature enough to function as an adult. That was all that mattered - enough to have seen two moons. Or...rather...about a hundred and ninety Earth moons. Or 3.75 New Saiya moon cycles...oh damn, 15 years was just simplier to think about. They were probably going to have to up the age to 16 Earth Years if they wanted to keep track of maturation rate by using the moon on the new planet. Not that she was planning on doing anything with this blond human she just liked to know the general maturation of the people she was interacting with.

As he handed her the drink, he smiled and spoke back up, "Rum huh? You a pirate."

"Of sorts," her grin was playful as she looked up at him, downing the drink in one go.

What she told him used to be true enough...she just practiced in space rather than on any known sea. And her race was a mix between intergalactic pirates and mercenaries...or at least they used to be. She had no idea exactly what their role in a larger scale would be anymore. Not just yet.

"I like that. What's your name?"

"Annya."

"My names Sha-" He cut himself off when another blonde found her way to his side.

"Sharpner! We thought you got taken!" the girl said in a happy, high pitched voice.

Annya looked at her. The girl had a large bust, enough to rival Bulma's at least. And she was taller than Annya. Yet she seemed smaller some how. Maybe it was the girlish clothing or the lack of muscles. And she was about the same age as the male she clung to.

"Erasa, not now," Sharpner hissed as his eye shot back to Annya.

"Oooh, who's this?"

Once again, Sharpner was cut off by someone else. This time preumptively. Gohan had pushed his way through the crowed and stared at Annya with his mouth agape, Videl right behind him.

"Annya?! What are you doing here?" Gohan looked back and forth nervously.

"Wait, you know the nerd?" Sharpner asked, his head looking back and forth so quickly that his hair caught in the air.

"Yes," Annya answered as she eyed him up and down. "And Gohan...I'm here because I want to be here."

He wasn't wearing his school clothes, nor his normal gi. The pants were tighter but not so much that it would restrain movement. His tail flaunted as a belt, drawing her eyes. His shirt fit him well. Much too well right about now. She could only guess that one of the girls had dressed him. If she didn't know any better she would have thought that the faint smell of arousal in this place was coming from him too. Which did not help her at the moment. Oh no, it did just the opposite. Her eyes went to half mast as she accidentally breathed in a little deeper.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sharpner asked as he lightly shook Annya's shoulder. "Don't tell me that drink got to you."

There was a snicker from behind as a slightly tipsy Leta moved over to them. "Nope. She's just being very agreeable. You should run."

Sharpner looked at the dark haired saiyan female like she was crazy. Leta just smiled - oh boy was this human about to find out the hard way.

"Uh, Videl...sorry but...I gotta go," Gohan said as he leaned down and whispered to the girl he'd come with.

"What? Why?"

"I...I just gotta go. I can't explain right now. It's a you know what thing."

She stared at him as though he'd just spoken nonsense. But he knew better than to give her too much time to think it over. She came up with a lot of questions that were embarrassing or difficult to answer. The last time he'd had to explain his father's behavior when they'd first come home. That had been bad enough. He did not need to explain what was going on if his dad decided to find Annya or if Vegeta came to get Leta. That...that would be a true nightmare.

So instead of waiting for her approval, Gohan moved over to Annya and Leta and looked at them imploringly. But of course the stubborn woman seemed to ignore him. And the closer he got the more he realized that their heat was in full swing. It wasn't just the normal delicious smell...it was a barrage of it. And he could understand what that meant by now - they weren't just experiencing it...they wanted to have fun, were ready for it.

Gohan gulped. This was not going to turn out well. Especially if his dad or Vegeta found them. He could only imagine how territorial either of them would get with all the other guys in the club around.

"You should go home Gohan," Annya said as she lifted her chin up a little, letting her head roll so the muscles in her neck could relax.

"Not without both you and Leta."

"Hey, why do you have to spoil the fun?" Sharpner said as he pushed at Gohan's shoulder.

Or at least he tried to, Gohan caught his hand without dragging his attention away from both Leta and Annya. Even in the flashing lights it was easy to keep his attention focused on them. But not so easy to tell what the look was that passed between the girls. Now that he didn't realize what it was until it was too late. Leta grabbed his hand and started to pull him into the crowed, a laughing smile over her lips and her ice blue eyes alight.

Annya hung back a bit as she looked between the three humans. Seemed Leta had found a new game instead of drinking. She hoped that Gohan had practiced his "no" because if Leta was especially cruel he'd be suffering a lot of guilt otherwise. And that wasn't something the poor little half saiyan needed.

"Sharpner...why don't you dance with...Erasa wasn't it?" Annya brought up as she cleared her throat.

He hesitated and looked between both Videl and Annya. Oh, so he liked Videl more than the girl clining to his arm? Well that was interesting. Especially since at the suggestion, Erasa had already started to pull Sharpner out into the dance floor.

As soon as they were emerced into the crowd, Videl squared off against Annya. Her outfit was a little more feminine than usual but not so much that it wasn't her. The shirt still went below her hips but the design was cut in the female fitted style and not the male, her pants were tight against her and her shoes were a matching metalic. There was even a hint of make up on her. Annya took that as a sign of human pre-mating behaviors. This could get very interesting indeed.

Annya moved closer, butting into Videl's personal space. They stood nose to nose as Videl held her ground. Brave girl...foolish but brave.

"Before you ask," Annya said as she put her mouth right by Videl's ear. "He's just trying to protect everyone here. I suppose he thinks all of us being here will send off red alerts in Kakarot's and Vegeta's brain."

Which, now that Gohan had joined them at the location it very well might. But how was she supposed to know he'd end up at their club?

"Kaka who?" Videl asked as she leaned back, unnerved by the closeness.

Annya drew back with a calm expression but made sure to stay in range of a normal voice. "Goku. Gohan's father."

"What do you mean a red alert?" was Videl's next question.

Annya laughed under her breath. Videl seemed to get flustered by that. No, not flustered; she was angry. Apparently Videl was a human that was quick to jump to anger. That she hadn't expected. The time she'd spent around the girl she had seemed to be confused and surprised, even a little disgusted now and again. Maybe she was finally adjusting to the truth. Or maybe she was getting territorial.

"Go home Videl. You'll be safer."

Without giving her time to respond, Annya slipped through the crowd to find Gohan and Leta. Leta was trying to get him to dance but the half saiyan was just standing their awkwardly. No doubt he didn't want to be drawn into what he probably saw as a fight waiting to happen. A valid concern considering that they made a nice shiny beacon for either Kakarot or Vegeta to sense.

She moved over to him without throwing Leta's game off. "Relax Gohan. She just wants to dance."

"I...I don't dance," He tried.

Leta stopped and turned around to him. Her bemused expression slowly faded into boredom as she gave up.

"You're broken," she announced causing Gohan to give her a confused expression as the lights continued to swirl around the dance floor.

"Wha-"

"We'll show you," Annya decided.

If he was going to take away the no-attachment situation they had set up then he might as well be used to replace it. Though that line of thinking might have very well been the heat talking. But there was no use trying to stuff the genie back in the bottle as the human saying went. After all they had come to the club to let off a little of the tension before the pain set in. They weren't going to stop just because Gohan decided to be no fun.

"But VId-"

"I sent her home," Annya said honestly though that didn't guarantee that Videl listened.

Gohan gulped again as he looked down at the two woman, his hands up in the air in almost an "don't shoot" fashion. They took the opportunity to grab a hand each, walking around him and spinning him around by proxy. It was like a much more intense form of ganging up on him together than anything to that date. And help him...but it felt nice. Still it felt awkward and he tried to hold still.

Until Annya stepped in front of him, and grabbed his pants with her hands while Leta bumped him from behind. His expression held fear - but at what, now that was up for debate. She pulled him forward before pushing him back only to repeat the process.

"Leta!" Gohan nearly yelped when her tongue ran across his arm.

She pulled it back, letting the taste of him ruminate in her mouth. She could tell that he liked being this close to them. She could taste it on his skin and feel it in his heartbeat. They appealed to him but he was holding back. But why? Why would he hold back?

"Lighten up," She said. "Now dance with me. That's an order."

Annya moved back away when Leta finished giving a command. Gohan looked at her, trying to figure out just why. Then he looked back down to Leta. Did she seriously expect him to dance with her? Before he could protest otherwise she pulled him deeper into a pit of people as the area went dark for more than a few seconds, the sequence of lights changing over.

He tried to not move, tried to remain impartial. But her smell tickled his nose, her heart rate and amount of perspiration spreading it like wildfire. And he found that it was hard to not be noticed in this area if he stood still. Timidly he put his hands on her shoulders and started to sway, a grimace on his face. Leta rolled her eyes and pushed closer to him, sliding up and down until Gohan was as red as a tomato.

But he was moving with her now, as much as his modesty would allow. And that's all that mattered. A certain pride filled her as he started to listen. It was very agreeable to her that her order had been heeded. Even if it was something minor like getting him to dance with her.

The beat pounded in her just as it washed into him as well. He focused on trying to keep his embarrassment down and to keep unnoticed in the crowd. By the time he got the hang of keeping up with Leta, his head felt dizzy and his focus narrowed in on that moment. Gohan's hands loosely looped around Leta's waist right up until the point she dropped out of them and backed away.

She shook her finger and darted through the crowed. Her game was over when he decided to play back.

Dark eyes narrowed on her retreating form and he started to go after her. If anything he had to make sure she didn't get in trouble. They really couldn't afford to have the others come after them. And Leta had never been very subtle. But his search was stopped when Annya came back into view.

"Annya...we should find Leta and get home," Gohan insisted as he tried to clear his head.

"I told you to go home Gohan," Annya said calmly. "But you took my outlet."

He seemed surprised. "You were seriously going to - ? With Sharpner? He's still in High School!"

Annya shrugged. "So are you."

His eyes narrowed a little as he straightened, clearing his head for a moment. Or attempting to. Because as soon as he took a breath he realized his mistake. Again. Gohan mentally hit himself - one of these days he was going to learn not to do something like that. He should have known better by now.

Annya took his moment of dazed hesitation and began to coerce his body into dancing with her. Of course, like Leta, she pulled him to a new area of people. She moved so much more confidently than he would have thought she'd be here. How did she not wince at the sound of the music or the order of everyone in this place when her senses were more acute than his? It was really something he was never going to understand.

Leaning in close as she spoke calmly. "Don't tell me you forgot how to move?"

Gohan's fists clenched as he tried to keep down his embarrassment. He couldn't believe what she just-

"Move with me Gohan," Annya demanded.

This was probably a bad decision but he decided to follow the demand anyways. Besides it wasn't like it was going to hurt. Annya smirked and turned around, keeping her back to him. Awkwardly (Leta had faced him), Gohan tried to mirror what he'd been doing earlier. It had made Leta happy at least. Annya gripped his hands as she moved.

It was a bit more awkward with her, all things considering. But as he closed his eyes and listened to the music it was easier to remember she wasn't there. Right up until the point that she backed into him and looped her arms around his neck. Feeling her up against him made his eyes open and they widened. He tried to push her away but she didn't budge. And he couldn't exactly push anymore without hurting her.

"Annya, stop," Gohan said in a stern voice.

Annya turned around in his arms and looked up at him. Her chin rested on his chest, her head leaning back. He could see her throat exposed, the sweat making her skin look longer than it was in the flickering light.

"Why?" she challenge.

"You know why."

"I don't want anything but to spend the night blowing energy, Gohan. So help me spend it."

"That isn't a good idea," Gohan rebutted, holding her at arms length.

"Why?" Another challenge. "I used to do this all the time."

"It's changed," he tried to drill into her head.

Didn't she understand that the situation had changed? How could she go out when she was in her heat and do something like this? Didn't she know she was provoking forces that most of these people couldn't handle?

Annya's eyes narrowed as she looked up at him. "The change has nothing to do with dancing."

When she turned to walk away, Gohan pulled her back. He held her as she struggled in his grasp, moving properly so no one around thought anything of it. There was no way he was going to let her go off and find another human to burn energy with. Because once she started to do that his dad would sense it. And as soon as that happened, in the state of mind he was in, Gohan knew that any human around would be caught in crossfire.

"Stop it."

"Let me go, Gohan," Annya said in a thick voice.

"When dad gets here..." Gohan let the sentence hang and started a new one. "If you want to dance, dance with me."

Annya stop struggling and nodded in his grasp. That was fine with her. After all, she had been trying to get him to do that since he took her away from her distraction anyways.

As she relaxed his hold loosened and the music started to guide their movements again. Gohan learned as she showed him. Weaved in and out to the light and the music and the people all around him like a never ending cycle. He focused on moving and trying to keep her scent out of his head. But as time went on and he held her in his hands the harder and harder that got.

His nose buried in her hair as he felt her laughing. The smell of people around him only made his nose more irritated as the night wore on no matter where they moved to. It was like she was leading him around the floor to distract him. Or to keep throwing him off. He didn't know which one and he found himself not caring.

Hands grasped at her as she turned around in his arms. But before she could say anything, Gohan felt himself flying through the crowd. He twisted his body around on instinct and tucked her closer to him to protect her from impact. He knocked down people in his way before he was able to stop himself.

As Gohan got back up, he noticed a few things. One, the room was lit up from super saiyan energy. Two, his father was there. And three, he was pissed. Straightening his shoulders, Gohan brushed himself off. This was definitely not going to be pleasant.

"Annya. Go."


	32. Chapter 32

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 32**_

Annya looked between father and son for a moment as they stared each other down. All of her senses were focused between them as her body clenched in excitement. She could still feel the heat from his body. She could taste and smell him coating her, rubbing her raw from the outside. It was fading now that he was faced with a fight. But the lingering signature, even with its human facets, was enough to light Annya on fire. And now that he was powering up? Oh by all that was sacred her will was crumbling and it was crumbling fast.

Dark eyes turned over to the super saiyan version of Goku - hmmm...more Kakarot now than anything. Power, undiluted and fully saiyan. Raw. Delicious. Why had she told him no for so long again? Oh, that's right - consequences. Pesky things. They were getting harder and harder to remember the longer she stayed with the boys. Two males, both so very strong...her heat induced mind could find no reason to leave as Gohan had instructed.

Annya shivered noticeably when Gohan snapped into a super saiyan form. Kakarot's eyes turned over to her, intense teal reminding her just what mood he was in. It was not a happy one. Oh boy she was praying Bardock's so called lessons hadn't sunk in. He had promised he wouldn't try to use the full moon against her, that he understood she would still be free to do what she pleased. That was before all the saiyan monogamous mating instincts and hyper aggressive behaviors had cemented.

Gohan half moved in front of her when he say the look of anger on his father's face. Annya had come out unscathed from his father's new set of mind so far but it seemed like whatever had been in her favor had run out. She was strong. But Gohan and Annya had no illusion over who would win in a true fight between Kakarot and herself. No matter what she did, Gohan couldn't bring himself to stand back and watch natural events unfold. Especially not after his father had struck the first blow.

Besides, he kind of _wanted..._and it was hard to focus any more than that. He wanted to fight. He wanted to protect. He wanted to win. And he wanted his prize at the en-

Surprised where his thoughts were going, Gohan turned part of his attention back towards Annya. He hadn't notice the subtle changes until his blood sang and boiled. Too late to turn back now.

"What are you doing?" Gohan's voice thundered out in the club.

There were way too many humans, normal ones, around them. People were going to get hurt more than they had already been. That should have deterred the two of them more than it was doing. But as Gohan's tail waved out behind him in a golden stream, and Kakarot's curled behind him dominantly, they both realized that safety wasn't the first thing on their minds.

"What I should have done since the beginning," Kakarot said in his steady, confident tone. "This is your last chance Gohan."

"Last chance for what _Dad_?" Hmm...this bought of aggression felt strangely exhilarating. And some part of Gohan was scared of that.

Their ki crackled as it brushed up against one another. Their auras clashing rocked the area with soft tremors. In this moment, in this place, and to these people they were gods. To Annya she was reminded why she had avoided fighting on the full moons. It wasn't going to end well for one of her boys.

"Isn't it obvious she doesn't want you?" Gohan called out.

Annya blinked from behind him. That wasn't exactly true. She wanted him. A lot right now. What she didn't want was to be shackled and forced into a subservient role. She just didn't want to be breeding stalk - that was one aspect of saiyan culture she and Leta had been trying to pound out. And out of the two of them Annya was still the only one who hadn't given birth recently.

Before she could think about replying, Gohan had spread his arms out wide as he continued on, "Look at what you're doing! She's still behind _me_ because she doesn't want to go back because of you!"

As soon as he said that, something snapped in Kakarot's head. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he stalked forward. The muscles twitched and jumped on both males as Annya tried not to stare and failed. They were both really pretty to her right now, especially with all the energy in the air.

The titans stood nearly eye to eye with one another as their clashing energy cracked the ground around them. Kakarot stared his son down. He had never wanted to hurt him. Until right now. Right now he wanted his son to bleed. He wanted him to hurt. He wanted him to get away from _his _Annya. His...if only in practice if not by any laws. His _what_ exactly he didn't know. Wife didn't seem fitting - she definitely wasn't what Chichi had been. Mate wasn't right either because they weren't breeding. Friend didn't cover it. She was just _his Annya_ and thats all there was to it.

"Go home Gohan."

"No."

A sudden knife twisted in Kakarot at that moment. He had been upset by his son's proximity to Annya. They had been touching and rubbing. Cuddling with a lot more friction. Dancing, yeah right. He had been willing to let that go (mostly). But Gohan wouldn't back down. He wasn't willing to surrender Annya. He was being protective. Possessive. Which meant one thing...

His son was trying to take her from him.

No way in was he going to let that happen. Not now. Not ever. No way in fucking hell.

Kakarot covered the small distance with such speed that humans wouldn't even see a blur. His fist connected with Gohan's arm, forcing the younger saiyan back a few inches. A follow up punch, blocked, and another until suddenly Gohan was fighting back with the same intensity. Jab for jab they traded as the two darted around the club with little regard for the humans around them. Gravity had no sway as they fought on ground and in the air just as smoothly.

People around them screamed and yelled as they tumbled around in super saiyan blurs. The exists were swamped with people trying to leave the confrontation. But there were just as many trying to catch the rare moments of them slowing down enough. A very dangerous task. One that had Leta and Annya playing defense.

Videl stared at what she could make out in horror. She watched as a golden haired Gohan wiped blood from his mouth after being knocked from the fist fight. His own father had been the one to deliver the blow, and he was fairing about the same. They were just about evenly matched at a level that Videl couldn't even fathom.

Gohan delivered a hit to Kakarot's ribs that was only half blocked as the two continued to dance around the room in half seen blurs. The force of the impact caused Kakaro to concave a little. But as he did so he landed a solid punch to Gohan's gut. Gohan staggered back a few feet but kept his guard up. Kakarot took the few seconds between them and fired up a ki blast.

Gohan's teal eyes widened in surprise before they set back in anticipation. The blast hit his palms, being redirected upwards even as though it stung. The light ki blast was just a distraction as Kakarot rushed in for a jaw shattering blow. As he was pushed backwards, Gohan managed to turn it so he swung a leg out and connected with his father's ribs. The sound of something snapping barely made an impression on the two of them. Especially as Kakarot started to crank it up to the second super saiyan level.

Annya watched from her position on the ground. A sort of anticipation filled her as they faught. She knew she should be more worried that father and son were fighting, but at the same time she couldn't bring herself to care. She was in heat and they were displaying their fighting prowess for her. What finally caught her attention (other then the men) was the hole in the ceiling and roof. It was leaking moonlight.

By the time the implications reached her addled mind, Leta was already over to her. She could feel her body being shaken before actually responding.

"We have to stop them," Leta said exuberantly.

"How do you propose we do that?"

Leta looked around for anything that could be of use. But while the queen wasn't what you could call dumb, she knew how to manipulate a situation involving people, she wasn't an on-the-go tactician like Annya. The only thing with them that could be of any use was that Videl girl. She hadn't taken the hint when she and Annya had kept Gohan away from her by moving him throughout the night. Stubborn, foolish girl. Just one that might prove useful so Leta could forgive her idiocracy.

Before she could figure out how to use the girl, however...

"Ka...me...ha," one voice started

"Me...ha!" The other voice blurred in.

The room was awash in light as the two ki blasts collided. The club around them started to be torn apart at the seems as the battle raged for supremacy. Blue-white light against blue-white light as both father and son pushed at eachother. The beams just kept getting bigger and bigger without what seemed to be an end.

"Annya," Leta snapped. "Get Kakarot to stop or this planet will be destroyed!"

Annya nodded in understanding. She knew that this magnitude of power could rip the planet apart if it wasn't stopped soon. Or if it was redirected to the wrong area...like the sun...none of them would be able to get out alive before the resulting explosion destroyed them all.

"Cover Videl," Annya said as she rose into the air.

She was, after all, the only human in the area that Annya cared to have protected. And that was simply because Gohan liked her. The others were just foolish humans with faulty survival instincts.

Leta frowned at being ordered around. To save a human none the less. But she did understand that Gohan would never forgive himself if anything happened to her. So instead of fighting, Leta hurried over to Videl even as the building started to collapse around them.

Annya managed to get behind Kakarot without much effort. What she did next went against practically all instincts she had at the moment. She pressed herself against his back and nibbled at his throat for added effect. Kakarot froze for a moment, shivering at her touch. And that's all that was needed. His ki, along with Gohan's started to be thrown back at them. Twisting on instinct, Kakarot wrapped his body around Annya and tucked her head under his chin.

The blast engulfed his body even as Annya attempted to pull the down and out of the way. The flew through the air at such speeds that changing directories was very hard to do. She could feel the impact of each building but it was nothing compared to what she knew Kakarot was shielding her from. Blunt impacts she could take. Super Saiyan 2 full ki blasts that even the struggled to produce were out of her league.

When she was finally able to move them out of the ki radius and down onto some rubble that had been a building, Kakarot slumped against her. His hair flickered back to black. Annya sighed in both relief and disappointment. The show had been spectacular but she was glad her diversion had worked.

Even as Kakarot rested against her, she could feel him trying to build back the strength to start again. Especially when Gohan's figure moved within sight, though Kakarot had his back to him. Gohan stalked closer, radiating power, until suddenly he stopped. And too late did Annya understand why.

Kakarot was thumping with the power of the on coming transformation. His tail pulsed in rhythm of his heart beat.

"Pull his tail off!" Gohan called out to Annya.

She glared at him. No way in hell was she going to do that. Before she could get the words out of her mouth, it was too late.


	33. Chapter 33

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 33**_

His body pulsed as the moon hung in the night sky like a pregnant sow. Annya made sure that she didn't look back as she darted forward with enough speed that they were out of the city before Kakarot became too heavy for her to carry. Sweat had broken out on her brow as they hit the ground, his clothes already in forgotten tatters by the wayside. Hair sprung out from him in thick waves, growing quicker by the second as his body doubled and tripled exponentially. His face popped and a snout extended, canines growing to the size of a human child by the time he was done growing.

All within the matter of moments. The transformation was awkward but marvelous to watch at the same time. Too bad Annya had kept her eyes closed the entire time. Heat she may be in, stupid she was not. Just like what she had done with Gohan in the chamber, she refused to open her eyes incase she got a glimpse at the refracted light waves.

The sound of his shuffling caught her attention. She could feel the warmth from his fur covered body as he shuffled about. He was quieter than Gohan, that much was for sure. Though she didn't know if that was a good or bad thing just yet. She may have spent six months in space with the Son family, part of that spent helping Gohan and Goku accept the transformative state that came from seeing blutz waves being refracted with their tails on, but she had no idea how much control Kakarot had. Low class saiyans never reported any sign of being in control during the transformation, instead they used a feral mind state to reek havok. Elite children were taught control of themselves at all time since birth - resulting in the ability to still move when someone grabbed their tail, the ability to still reason and speak when transformed, among other things.

The silence didn't last long, however. Once he finished taking in his surroundings, Annya felt him stomp. To the unknowing they must have thought an Earthquake had struck. His roar pierced the air next, sending all the animals that were still alive in the area scattering. Annya rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms under her chest. He had to be a howler didn't he?

"What the hell is going on?"

Annya turned her attention in Vegeta's direction. She didn't need her sight to tell her what the prince was feeling. He was preturbed at the fact that Kakarot was transformed and destroying parts of the city, even if they were on the outskirts now. And jealous if she had to make a bet on something more than his obvious annoyance. She had given back Gohan and Goku their tails ages ago. She had even offered to help him, but Leta had put a stop to that. As she was his zeyato, she had the right to tell Annya no back then. Now that she was Queen she had every domestic right there was.

"Just a dispute," Annya answered truthfully. "Gohan and he got into a fight."

Kakarot raged in front of them. Mostly in Vegeta's direction. They continued to talk as they dodged his rampage. She had been so tempted to open her eyes when she sensed Gohan starting the fight up once more. She wondered if he had brought his human or if he planned to stay in his more human form.

"I know that," Vegeta snapped. "Do you think I lost my senses?"

Maaaybe. He was the male who walked into a dominance fight over a female he didn't even want after all. Then again it had started out with Gohan just protecting her from his father. But it had gotten out of hand - she didn't need her eyes to know that.

"What I want to know is why."

"The same reason you and he have been getting into skirmishes all year."

And a quick avoidance of a left over ki blast from Gohan...

When she landed, it was harder to tell where the prince was. Like finding a piece of ice in a bowl of water without using her eyes or any other part of her body. She knew he was there but he was hidden in the energies that were Gohan and Kakarot.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Vegeta growled out.

His voice came from so near that the hairs on the base of her neck stood on edge. She tried to hold in her shiver but she may have failed a little. With him so close it was more difficult to distinguish what was and wasn't proper. She had no idea why control was suddenly becoming so hard to maintain.

As if to remind her that he demanded an answer, Vegeta grabbed Annya's wrist. Instinctively, the redhead turned to look at him. In the moonlight he glowered at her. Which meant that most of his attention was on her. Definitely not a good thing...especially when she saw his nose flare and he took in the scent of her heat.

"It's over dominance for mating rights my prince," Annya finally remarked.

"The boy is fighting Kakarot over you?" Vegeta snorted. "So all of this is because you couldn't decide which of the low class men you wanted."

"They have a higher rank than you do now," Annya answered back in an even, nearly emotionless tone.

"What the hell are you talking about woman?" Vegeta demanded in a snarl as he forcibly cast her wrist to the side.

The action, though it may have seemed like a small thing, somehow managed to catch the attention of one very pissed off Kakarot. Roaring, the over aggressive saiyan reached out to backhand the prince. Vegeta guarded against the back of the hand, sliding in the dirt as he pushed outwards from his chest.

"Why did you touch her?!" Gohan called out in aggravation to the prince.

"Touching her shouldn't be the issue!" Vegeta said as golden energy licked at him, transforming him in a flash of light. "What the hell was Kakarot doing out on the full moon anyways?"

Gohan didn't dignify that question with an answer as he went on to fight with his back to the moon. He could feel it like a siren song beaconing him to look. But he didnt need to see it to know how beautiful it was.

Vegeta rose into the air, swirling to avoid the beam of energy that spewed from the transformed Kakarot's mouth. It dug deep into the Earth, like a hot knife through butter. Gohan nearly cursed, electricity snapping around him, as he realized just how far it went down. The blast had penetraited the crust. And the mantel, as slow moving as it was, was coming up through the hole to say hello.

If they didn't stop his father soon there was going to be no Earth to save. Kind of put fighting over one girl in a bit more perspective, even if it was the right thing to do to defend her when she couldn't defend herself. Lobbying a barange of energy at his father, Gohan aimed for all the more sensative spots. The nose, the eyes, the throat, and even the ears. Sizzling, Kakarot continued to fight on. He had fought through most of his body being broken by Vegeta...no way was a little burn going to stop him.

Gohan clenched his fist as he circled around the massive form. It looked like they were barely damaging him. In fact, Vegeta was doing the most damage but Kakarot barely seemed to notice. It was like the moonlight had overrode all his pain sensories. Gohan knew that couldn't be true though, when they knocked out Vegeta's eye he had felt it.

The area around them started to heat up as the mantel neared the surface. Vegeta and Gohan didn't notice as they fought on. Their bodies already adapting to the changing eviroment as their golden energy pulsed around them.

Kakarot pounded the ground with his feet as he hit Gohan square in the chest. It sent Gohan flying across the sky with the force. He slammed into the ground making skid marks of his own. Before the dust settled, someone was blocking his vision. His eyes focused in and he realized who it was - Annya.

"Get out of here," Gohan expressed, knowing her presence wasn't waking the fight any easier.

Annya didn't answer as she pulled him up from the small crater he had made. He could smell her swimming about his head from being this close to her. He could feel her hands on his skin more than the magma that was funneling up. Gohan inhaled on relex and knew better after the fact.

"You enjoy this," Gohan's tone was lower in his super saiyan 2 form than in his base, but that statement had dropped an octave still.

"Yes," she wasn't going to deny the truth. "A part of me does. Almost as much as you do."

Gohan stared at her for a moment. It was true that he felt more alive now than ever. But unlike her, he wasn't _enjoying_ it. At least he was trying not to. This was his father after all. Then again he knew first hand what the prize would fee- Gohan shook his head. That was her heat influancing his mind. From the amount of pheromones that leaked out of her skin he was very surprised that he hadn't done something else he'd regret when they were dancing. But then again...for some reason he didn't smell them as clearly as he did now.

Before he could comprehend what was going on, Annya jumped on him. His body reacted instantly, catching her weight without actually thinking about where he put his hands. The sound of his father snarling behind him made him realize what it may have looked like. Strangely Gohan couldn't bring himself to feel embarrassed.

Annya pulled at his head and it was too late when he realized what she was doing. His eyes caught sight of the moon, his tail falling behind him and started pulsing in tandum with his heartbeat. Annya jumped back off of him as the transition took place. He grew and morphed into an ape like beast nearly the size of his father. His height was the same but he had a little less bulk. But at the size they were at, it would be hard to tell the difference from a human's perspective.

"What the hell did you do that for?!" Vegeta yelled out in frustaition.

"Watch."

He never got the chance to. Leta was suddenly in front of him, her eyes wide before she burried her face into his neck. Her heart beat erratically as she squeezed her eyes closed. Transforming would be a very bad idea right now.

"Leta will protect her kem kov," Leta said in a nearly frantic voice. "Ika-nas, lebro-osh. Ika-nas, lebro-osh. Aives'i, ya."

_You don't have your tail. You don't have your tail. I will protect you._ Leta kept repeating that despite Vegeta adamently trying to push her away. As she struggled with him, the battle raged on.

* * *

The world started coming back to him in small waves. First it was his hearing. It let him know that he wasn't the only one breathing in the room. Then it was his sense of smell and touch, both of which let him know exactly who it was - Annya. With a small grin, he took a deep breath and snuggled his head into her, pulling her closer. The smell of her heat wrapped around him in such a stimulating cacoon. He could feel every inch of himself start to appreciate it. But for some reason, something just didn't seem right. He didn't feel complete. And his head hurt too.

Flashes of the night before filled his head. He had transformed under the light of the full moon. He had been fighting his son and...and...Gohan had transformed too. Slowly he opened his eyes. The lighting in the room was dim so it didn't aggrivate his headache.

"Annya, what happened?"

He kept remembering flashes but for the life of him he couldn't remember going to bed.

"You had a fight with Gohan," Annya started and he vaguelly nodded. "You both transformed...and went super saiyan in that form."

That part he could vaguelly see. But it was more of a rage filled memory of golden blurs.

"You went to bite Gohan's throat out-don't worry he's fine," Annya remarked prumptively to settle his mind. "Gohan harnessed his transformation and reached the red hybrid form and pulled off your tail and cut off your oxygen supply."

He sat up at that, eyes wide. His hand went to the back of pants to try to prove that statement wrong. No, she was telling the truth. His tail was actually gone. Again. But this time it hit somewhere deeper inside of him than it had when he was a child. How was he supposed to be accepted by the other saiyans if he didn't have his tail?


	34. Chapter 34

**Of Blood and Fire**

_**Chapter 34**_

"Can you bring it back?"

Annya tore her eyes away from him and sat up. The fabric of her shirt from last night didn't cover more than the end of her back and neck, though her hair did reach down below her shoulder blades.

"Right now isn't a good time for that," Annya answered.

Goku sat up beside her, overshadowing Annya without even trying. "Why isn't it a good time? Is it because of your heat? I could turn around and not move if you're worried about that."

Annya smiled slightly at his tone of voice. He wasn't as aggressive that was for sure. In fact, he sounded like he was back to his old self. It was a very pleasant change. His aggressive and territorial tendencies had been frightening in a way. Well in more than one way. He reminded her how much she stood to loose if he ever pressed any issue. And as someone who was drastically stronger than her, he reminded her what it was like to feel weak. Even if his strength had gone towards defending her, the reminder had not been completely pleasant.

"Did I do something wrong?" Goku asked as he took a moment to seriously think about everything he had done recently, though remembering his actions wasn't his strongest point. "Oh! I know! It was because I came after you on the full moon and fought Gohan wasn't it?"

Annya remained quiet. Goku nudged at her almost playfully. She knew he was serious, she could feel it. But he was acting so happy and calm at the same time that she had a hard time retaining any residual anger.

"Partially."

"Partially huh? What's the other part?"

"You tortured Paragus," Annya answered. Her skin felt like it was crawling with bugs just from using his name.

"I guess I did," Goku said with his tone leveling out. He stared at the wall for a moment before looking at her from under dark eyelashes. "Are you mad at that?"

"Not...mad," she had to choose her words carefully to express the idea. "But ever since I told you what happened you've been very aggressive and violent. Until last night when your tail was pulled off."

His eyes returned to the wall as that sank in. "So my tail was making me more aggressive?"

"I don't know. Maybe having the extra receptors over stimulated your brain. Too much to handle or something."

"I thought most saiyans behaved that way."

"Most try, but most have a stopping point. You didn't."

"What do you mean?" Goku questioned as he sat beside her, chatting though they were talking about the weather.

Calmly Annya explained. "You did as you wanted regardless of laws or customs and we didn't know how to stop you. With any other infraction, any other saiyan, they can be punished. You couldn't be."

"Oh, I see," Goku said with a half laugh in his voice, almost in self deprivation. "But I didn't hurt you did I?"

"No, you didn't."

"Good," he replied with a decisive nod from beside her to confirm it for himself. "So I lost the fight with Gohan huh? Man must have been some fight! I barely remember anything though..."

The last sentence seemed more like a pout than anything. Annya relaxed her body as she hid a smile. It wasn't unusual to reminisce about fights but Goku did it in this certain way that made people forget that it was fighting he was talking about.

"So if he reached a new level of transformation, why aren't you with him instead? He won right?"

Annya turned her head to try and look at him. The angle didn't offer her the best glimpse of his face. But from what she could see, he wasn't about to burst into anger. Still, how did he know about that? _Did_ he know about that?

"You're in heat," he stated and she narrowed her eyes on him. "You would want to be around the strongest guy right? Gohan is the strongest one right now."

He had a point. By all rights, she should have gone with Gohan. But she hadn't. Why hadn't she? There were a few reasons of course. She hadn't wanted to leave Goku in the state he had been in. She hadn't wanted to split Gohan's human relationship up, not really. She hadn't wanted...it was hard to put into words. To conform to prior expectations? To hurt Goku's feelings? To be ruled by instinct along? It was somewhere along there.

"If I wanted the strongest male, I would find Broly," Annya answered after a moment of reflection. "I wanted to make sure you were okay."

A grin spread over Goku's face as he nudged her with his shoulder. "You wanted to cuddle."

Flabbergasted, Annya started to move off the bed. Goku's arms caught her as he fell backwards on purpose. She struggled for a moment before she realized that meant she was inadvertently giving his body more of a reason to respond to her heat. Goku laughed at the look on her face as she settled down on top of his chest. His head might be banging and his breathing might hurt, but she was still felt very...very good. And smelled good enough to eat

His eyes half lidded over as he they lay there. "Hey Annya?"

"Yes?"

"Can we put that promise off one more day?" His innocent grin made her second guess what he was talking about.

When he shifted onto his side, second guessing went out the window. Annya looked down accusingly to the point of his anatomy that behaved as she would have expected of any other saiyan male. She pushed herself up but was stopped by Goku's arms looping around her waist.

"No."

"Why? I love you, you love me," Goku explained as though it were a simple concept. "I promise the next full moon I won't ask!"

She stared down at him in disbelief, "Saiyans don't love."

"I do. I love you."

"Stop saying that. No you don't. It's just the heat making you say things you think I want to hear. I don't want to hear lies."

Goku shook his head with a grin on his face. "I'm not good at lying. You shouldn't be so upset about it. Like you said, no one can punish me for breaking customs right? So we can't get in trouble for loving each other."

"I...saiyans can't love. We don't have the same neurochemistry patterns as humans. We don't even form the same attachment patterns. Bonding isn't about emotions. It's about matching strength for the necessity of successful offspring."

"Now who's lying?" Goku teased as he sat up to meet her, his arms still holding onto her. "If it was about strength for offspring you wouldn't be here with me."

"This conversation is absurd."

He grinned at her as though he wanted to confuse her with his stark contrasts. "No it isn't. You love me."

"I can't," Annya said simply.

"You didn't want to hurt me so you broke tradition."

She narrowed her eyes back on him. It was a wonder they ever became un-narrowed to begin with.

"Were you reading my mind?"

"Muffin button."


End file.
